Blog Topic: Newsish

Grub Notes: UGA Athletic Association Doesn't Know What 'Local' Means

By Hillary Brown | April 3, 2020 5:30pm

At this time of all times, the UGA Athletic Association decided to tweet in favor of supporting local restaurants, with a big header that said "support local." The problem is what followed it: a list of chains, only two of which (Grindhouse and Zaxby's) could sorta be described as local restaurants.

Yes, chain and franchise restaurants are owned by local people, and local people work there, but encouraging people to support McDonald's, Papa John's and Subway isn't exactly the best way to bring money back into the hurting local economy. The explanation, of course, is that these are the places that advertise with the Athletic Association, and the end of the tweet reads, "Thank you for continuing to support our partners."

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In the Loop: Flagpole Wants to Hear Your #QuarantineTales

By Noah Rawlings | April 7, 2020 10:03am

For many Athens residents, this is an unprecedented moment: A virus spreads unpredictably throughout the globe; schools and workplaces are closed; most days are spent indoors, for weeks at a time. In short, “normal life” either is nonexistent or has become something else entirely.

We at Flagpole want to hear and share your stories of living, working, playing and hoping in these tumultuous times. How has the coronavirus altered your life? How are you responding? How would you like to see others respond? What do you miss about life before sheltering in place? What has sheltering in place, oddly, brought back into your life? (A skill? A hobby?)

Your quarantine stories can be fact or fiction, prose or poetry, lighthearted anecdotes or heavy accounts, or comics or photographs. Please limit them to 500 words, and we’ll publish as many as we can in future issues of Flagpole. Email all submissions to Associate Editor Noah Rawlings at [email protected].

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Culture Briefs: Yes, That's Thor Drinking Creature Comforts in the New Avengers Trailer

By | April 3, 2019 3:09pm

Photo Credit: Marvel Studios

"I know it matches your suit, Tony, but I'm sorry, they were out of Paradiso."

A few, um, hawk-eyed social media users noticed something familiar about the beer can Thor is drinking in the new Avengers: Endgame trailer that dropped Tuesday.

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Culture Briefs: Some Genius on Reddit Thinks R.E.M. Cursed the Bulldogs

By Blake Aued | March 27, 2019 3:38pm

Photo Credit: Robert De Martino/Wikimedia Commons

What's the frequency, Kirby?

Reddit is well known as a sordid hive of flat-earthers and Pizzagate fanatics, but user JohnnyStringbean may have come up with one of the better online conspiracy theories of all time.

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Homedrone: R.E.M. Tells Congress and Media to 'Ghost' Trump

By Blake Aued | February 17, 2019 8:33pm

When you're sure you've had enough/ of this president, well hang on.

R.E.M. continued its long-running feud with Donald Trump over the weekend, firing back at the president after he tweeted a video featuring one of its songs to his 58 million Twitter followers.

The video, originally posted by pro-Trump meme account @CarpeDonktum, consists of a series of images of Democrats looking sad at Trump's State of the Union Address, set to the 1993 R.E.M. hit "Everybody Hurts." The video was taken down for copyright violation, but Trump later posted the same video, this time set to Lee Greenwood's "Proud to Be an American."

"World Leader PRETEND!!!" the band said in a statement referencing another one of its songs. "Congress, Media—ghost this faker!!! Love, R.E.M."

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In the Loop: That 'UGA TA Hates White People' Story Is Way Overblown

By Blake Aued | January 23, 2019 4:21pm

Photo Credit: The University of Georgia

Irami Osei-Frimpong.

Here’s some breaking news.

Wait for it.

It’s crazy.

You won’t believe this.

An Athens PhD student has some controversial political views. And he posts them on social media.

Irami Osei-Frimpong, a University of Georgia teaching assistant in philosophy, is well-known in Athens political circles. He hosts a YouTube show and posts his thoughts on race and class on Facebook multiple times a day.

Some months ago, Osei-Frimpong said that “some white people may have to die for black communities to be whole in this struggle to advance freedom.”

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Homedrone: Athens Mayor Kelly Girtz's Favorite Local Shows

By Blake Aued | January 9, 2019 4:45pm

Photo Credit: Todd Kulesza/Wikimedia Commons

Vic Chesnutt.

When he’s not commissioning, you can often catch newly inaugurated Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz at a concert. As part of a recent Q&A, we asked hizzoner to talk about a few of his favorite local bands and shows.

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In the Loop: PETA Wants Georgia to Get Rid of Uga

By Blake Aued | January 3, 2019 11:41am

Photo Credit: John Kelley/UGA Athletics

Uga X.

This is about as likely to happen as Kirby Smart leaving to coach Georgia Tech, but People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is asking the University of Georgia to stop using a real-life English bulldog as its mascot.

After Uga X's encounter with Bevo, the Texas longhorn, at Tuesday's Sugar Bowl, PETA sent letters to both schools asking them to stop using live animals as mascots.

"It's indefensible to subject animals to the stress of being packed up, carted from state to state, and paraded in front of a stadium full of screaming fans," PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange said in a statement. "It's no surprise that a skittish steer would react to a perceived threat by charging, and PETA is calling on the University of Texas and the University of Georgia to learn from this dangerous incident, retire their live-animal mascots, and stick to the talented costumed mascots who can lead cheers, react to the crowd, and pump up the team."

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In the Loop: UGA Shuts Down Dorm Room Grilled Cheese Mogul After Red & Black Article

By Blake Aued | December 11, 2018 10:38am

Photo Credit: Mack Male/Wikimedia Commons

When student newspaper The Red & Black published "Is the grill hot? Inside a UGA freshman's grilled cheese empire" on Dec. 6, my first thought, like many people, was, "How long will it take the university to shut this down?"

The answer was five hours.

After all, 18-year-old Charlie Williams—who delivered $3 grilled cheese sandwiches and other tasty snacks to fellow residents of Oglethorpe House, aka O-House—was clearly operating an illegal business. I didn't go to UGA, but I'm pretty sure we weren't allowed to have hot plates at Ole Miss, and I'm very sure the health department would say that running what basically amounts to a Papa John's (minus the tomato sauce, garlic butter and racism) out of your home is not kosher.

Sure enough, the follow-up came Saturday: "Too hot to handle: UGA housing shuts down grilled cheese business."

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In the Loop: Dems Troll Brian Kemp With Pro-Vols Banner

By Blake Aued | September 29, 2018 4:10pm

Photo Credit: Democratic Party of Georgia

Is Brian Kemp really a Tennessee fan? Well, the Brian Kemp isn't, but a Brian Kemp is.

As Kemp and other Republican candidates were wrapping up a tailgate at Herty Field—where, we presume, everyone wore red—Georgia Democrats hired a plane to buzz Sanford Stadium with a banner reading "BRIANKEMP SAYS... GO VOLS."

Brian Kemp is running for governor. BrianKemp is a parody Twitter account filled with negative news stories about Kemp and Photoshopped images of the candidate wearing orange. (The actual Kemp's actual Twitter handle is @BrianKempGA.)

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