Pic(k) of the Week: Catch a beat

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Catch a beat! Drummer in action during a performance by Atlanta-area musician Mandi Strachota and the Major 7s.

Oakhurst Porchfest: Decatur, Georgia, USA, 11 October 2025.

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Porchfest

Porchfests are annual music events held across the United States and in Canada on front porches. Started in Ithaca, New York, in 2007, porchfest events bring local musicians and neighborhoods together to celebrate and create a sense of community.

Since 2015, Oakhurst Porchfest [in the eponymous neighborhood of the city of Decatur] has been a grassroots community music festival where front porches become stages, yards become venues, and radical generosity and goodwill rule the day.

— Wikipedia.
— Oakhurst Porchfest.

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Mandi Strachota

Born in Atlanta, Georgia and raised in the wilds of Wisconsin, Mandi Strachota is the product of southern roots and Midwest know-how, a potent mix of practicality and soulful dreaming. Mandi has become a fixture on the Atlanta scene, taking her music nationwide in 2019. She is known for her soulful vocals, but is a multi-instrumentalist who is quickly becoming known for her songwriting [...] embracing R&B, gospel, and soul, [...and] dabbling in jazz and blues, with a touch of grit and country sway.

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Mandi Strachota: Daredevil.
Album: Pictures
Label: CD Baby, 2020.

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Pic(k) of the Week: It's Time for a General Strike

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"Defend democracy. It's time for a general strike!"

No Kings protests took place nationwide in the U.S. on October 18, 2025, as part of a series of demonstrations against Donald Trump's policies and actions during his second presidency. The demonstrations, which followed the June 2025 No Kings protests, took place in some 2,700 locations across the country, including the National Mall in Washington, D.C., Chicago, New York City, [and in Atlanta]. Approximately two hundred organizations collaborated to coordinate the October protests, which drew nearly 7 million participants nationwide, marking it as one of the largest single-day demonstrations in American history.

— Wikipedia (accessed 28 October 2025).

In Atlanta, an estimated 10,000 gathered to listen to speakers near the Atlanta Civic Center in the historic Old Fourth Ward. Following the speeches, they marched, en masse, 1½ miles to Liberty Plaza, situated downtown in front of the State Capitol building.

More photos from the rally: here.

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Frederic Rzewski: The People United Will Never Be Defeated
Album: The People United Will Never Be Defeated!
Label: Vanguard, 1978.

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Pic(k) of the Week: Stone Mountain summit at sunrise

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It was 'blowing a hoolie,' at sunrise on the summit of Stone Mountain, that is, cold and windy!

A minimalist 'blue hour' silhouette in DeKalb County, Georgia, USA, on 10 October 2025 at 7:20 a.m. EDT.

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Thelonius Monk: Crepuscule with Nellie
Album: Monk's Music (Label: Riverside, 1957)

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Pic(k) of the Week: Old Grist Mill in early autumn afternoon

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A restored 19th-century water-powered gristmill in Stone Mountain Park: DeKalb County, Georgia, USA.

Photo taken 10 October 2025.

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About the mill

The mill was originally built in 1867, operating along a creek in Fannin County in north Georgia (near the current town of Ellijay). It fell into disuse and was eventually abandoned.

In 1965, the mill was dismantled and moved to Stone Mountain Park. There, the mill and its milling equipment, including the mill house and millstones, were reassembled. Additionally, a thirteen-foot-diameter wooden overshot water-wheel and a stone millrace were replicated and put in place.
— Scenic USA.
— Stone Mountain Park.

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Photographer's Notebook

The mill is a well-loved spot in the park, easily accessible from the perimeter road. So, it took some time to capture the image without any visitors in the frame. Fortunately, I finished just as a large group of school children arrived.

The entire scene featured deep contrasts between sunlight and shadow. To capture the full range of tones, I took four separate exposures, blending them later during the editing process. Wind gusts were strong, and some of the foliage shows motion blur. C'est la da-guerre-otype!

Per Merriam-Webster, "gristmill" is one word; the park spells it as two.

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Weather Report: American Tango (Vitouš/Zawinul)
Album: Mysterious Traveler (Label: Columbia, 1974)

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Pic(k) of the Week: Afternoon of an owl

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"Chiefly nocturnal, a barred owl does not generally tolerate close approach." Yet there he was, in late afternoon, perched only a few meters in front of us.

Seminary Wood in Decatur Legacy Park: City of Decatur, Georgia, USA, 24 September 2025.

The barred owl (Strix varia) is a chunky owl with dark eyes, dark barring on its upper breast, and dark streaking below. It is a common resident in dense coniferous or mixed woods of river bottoms or swamps, and upland woods. Its distinctive call is a rhythmic series of loud hoots: 'who-cooks-for-you, who-cooks-for-you-all.'

— National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern North America.

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Gonzalo Rubalcaba: A Quiet Place
Album: Skyline (Label: 5 Passion, 2021)

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