Jun
30

NCMA Featured in Today’s WSJ

ncma_WSJ A feature piece in today’s Wall Street Journal centers around the North Carolina Museum of Art’s new wing. While the author is somewhat flattering and quickly conveys the NCMA philosophy, she also seems to pine for something more inspirational instead of something so quietly functional. Sound familiar?

Coincidentally, today’s Vanity Fair has a feature where they asked 52 “experts” to name the five most important works of architecture since 1980. They named 132 different structures, including the following museums:

  • Guggenheim Art Museum Bilbao (Frank Gehry)
  • Nelson Atkins Museum (Steven Holl)
  • Fuglsang Art Museum (Tony Fretton)
  • Museum of Roman Art, Merida (Rafael Moneo)
  • Menil Collection (Renzo Piano)
  • MAXXI Museum (Zaha Hadid)
  • Neue Staatsgalerie (James Stirling)
  • Nagi Museum of Contemporary Art (Arata Isozaki)
  • Brazillian Sculpture Museum (Paulo Mendes da Rocha)
  • Kolumba Museum (Peter Zumthor)
  • DeYoung Museum (Herzog & de Meuron)
  • Goetz Collection (Herzog & de Meuron)
  • Brazilian Scuplture Museum (Paulo Mendes da Rocha)
  • Peabody-Essex Museum addition (Moshe Safdie)
  • Acropolis Museum (Bernart Tschumi)
  • Niteroi Contemporary Art Museum (Oscar Niemeyer)
  • Boyd Art Center (Glenn Murcutt)

While the list isn’t exclusively iconic structures, it is a list dominated with such. Making 28 of the 52 critics’ lists, the clear overall winner was Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. It is an iconic, daring, world-class masterpiece that has made Bilbao an internationally-known name. Why didn’t we get a building like this?

"I didn’t want a Gehry or a Calatrava," said museum director Lawrence J. Wheeler. "It needed to be not an overstated building, but an art experience; one that’s personal and inviting, not intimidating."

To be fair, the NCMA addition is probably too new to make these critics’ radars. If the Menil Collection made some lists, the NCMA addition is bound to make future lists. However, make no mistake, like Calatrava’s art museum in Milwaukee (which I visited Monday), Gehry’s Guggenheim is an art experience that is personal and inviting, and not intimidating. I do want to enter them.

Jun
30

Mitch Fatel Coming to Goodnight’s

fatel The second-funniest Mitch to walk the planet is coming to Goodnight’s. Mitch Fatel will take the stage for the weekend beginning Thursday, July 22.

Jun
30

One North Carolina: Naturally

The State of North Carolina’s Radiation Protection Section recently sent out a document sporting a logo that apparently is on all DEHNR memos:

ncrad That sure looks like a familiar font to those of us who were around in the 70’s and 80’s:

naturalOh yeah, baby. Naturally! (just don’t let them be associated with any music venues)

Jun
29

Maroon 5, Kris Allen, VV Brown Coming to The Walt

maroon5 On Tuesday, August 17, Maroon 5 will play the downtown Raleigh amphitheater. Opening are the 2009 American Idol winner Kris Allen as well as VV Brown.

Jun
29

COC Playing the Pour House

COC On July 31 the core lineup of Corrosion of Conformity, Woody, Mike, and Reed, will reunite and play the Pour House in downtown Raleigh. Tickets are $12 in advance.

Jun
24

Wall Is First!

Congratulations to Raleigh’s John Wall who was selected first overall by the Washington Wizards in tonight’s NBA Draft.

Jun
24

Special Event: gogochicago

I’m headed up to Chicago and Milwaukee with a jam-packed itinerary. Much food awaits! Travel along with me by following my updates on Twitter (@gogoraleigh).

Jun
23

Upscale Bowling Coming to North Hills East

sparians In December North Hills East will bet a bowling ally. However forget those images of The Dude knocking them down with Walter and Donny. This will be a high-end bowling ally. Sparians Bowling Boutique will take undeveloped space across from Bruegger’s in North Hills East. The facility will have 18 lanes featuring sofas, suites, and giant TVs to go with lighting and sound effects. While the place will be family-friendly, my first impression is that it will be to bowling what SportClips is to barbershops, and will be a great addition to the North Hills area.

Jun
22

Carolina Hurricanes 2011 Schedule for Sync and Download

image Canes hockey fans who like electronic calendars rejoice! I’ve uploaded the 2010-2011 Carolina Hurricanes schedule in .CSV, .ICS, and Google Calendar formats. This way you can easily port the schedule over to your Android phone, iPhone, Blackberry, Google Calendar, Outlook, and more!

Without a doubt, the gogoraleigh Hurricanes Calendar is the best on the web. Not only is the complete calendar available, but also a home-only version is available. For each event, the teams playing in the event are listed in 3-digit codes, so the entire event is easy to see on devices that can’t display wide paragraphs. Additionally, the game locations are included, so devices that can automatically associate the location field with a map will offer these locations as hyperlinks. This is perfect if you are going to the game in an away city!

Finally, with the synced versions of the calendar, gametime changes and television information are automatically updated as the information becomes available.

Android/Google Calendar Users

If you already subscribe to last year’s Carolina Hurricanes schedule feeds, you don’t need to make any changes. The new events now appear in the feed. For those just getting started with this highly efficient method of scheduling, consult the calendars at the gogoraleigh Calendars’ page:

iPhone /Blackberry/Outlook/Palm Users

  • Create a new folder in your in Outlook calendar (Canes11, for example). Use the File | Import and Export… to import from “another program or file”, then “Comma Separated File (Windows)”. This will set up the schedule in your new sub-calendar where you can make whatever changes you want.
  • iPhone Users – You are done. Now you can view the Canes’ schedule as its own sub-calender or as a part of all calendars.
  • When you are happy with the way the subcalendar looks, change the calendar view to “Events” (instead of 7-day or 31-Day or whatever view you’re using). “Select All” from the list, and drag them over to your main “Calendar” (The Treo and other Palm Handhelds only sync to the main calendar – time for Palm to get with the program on that one!). If you want to keep your sub-calendar intact, use Ctrl-drag instead of plain drag. That will create a copy of each event to the main Calendar and keep the Canes08 calendar in place. Sync your handheld to copy the events to the handheld.
  • CSV Files. (right click on the link and “Save As…”)

CanesCal11a CanesCal11b

iCal Users

There are two options:

  • Use iCalTextImport to import the .CSV version (linked above) of the schedule.
  • Download the .ics files and import them into iCal.
    • Hurricanes Schedule (Complete) – .ics file (version: 6/22/10)

Notes

Calendars are apt to change, so check back occasionally for updates. To determine the version of your schedule, open the note associated with any event, and look for the version number. If your calendar is older than those listed above, simply delete the events in Outlook in your old one and import the events of the newer file. Google Calendar is dynamically up-to-date. Use at your own risk. I do not accept responsibility for any consequences resulting from errors in the schedule.

Jun
22

Tracy Morgan Coming to Goodnights

morgan On Thursday September 2, Tracy Morgan will begin a 6-show weekend at Goodnight’s Comedy Club. This will be one of the last shows before Tracy films his upcoming HBO special, so he will really be on! Tickets are on sale now.

Jun
21

Raleigh Accepting Appearance Award Nominations

The City of Raleigh is accepting nominations for the 2010 Sir Walter Raleigh Awards for Community Appearance. The annual awards recognize outstanding new development, building rehabilitation efforts, and natural resource conservation within the Capital City. The awards program was established in 1983 to commemorate exemplary achievement in enhancing the city’s appearance. More than 200 projects, sites, and individuals have been honored.

Awards are offered in 11 different award categories, including new residential, commercial, or institutional construction, plus historic preservation, sustainable design, and tree and landscape conservation. The award for “Maintained Outstanding Appearance” honors appearance contributions by projects 5 years old or older. The “Individual” award is presented to a citizen who has consistently worked to preserve or improve city appearance.

The deadline for entries for the 2010 Sir Walter Raleigh Awards is Friday, July 9. Nominations for the can be made online at or by completing a printed form available at City government offices. In addition to project information, six or more digital photos of each nominated project or individual, submitted on CD or flash drive, are also required.

An independent jury will meet in July to review the nominations. Award winners will be selected based on specific criteria, including exhibition of a new standard of excellence, awareness of land stewardship, innovation, conservation of natural and/ or historic resources, and exceeding applicable ordinances. The Raleigh City Council will confirm the jury’s selections in August. Awards will be presented in October.

Jun
21

Berkelely Cafe to Host Improv Night

improv On Tuesday night (6/22) the Berkeley Cafe will host an improv show featuring four teams. The show starts at 9pm, and admission is $5. Here’s a rundown on the teams:

Really Special People

"What is Really Special People? It’s thin. It’s beautiful. It goes anywhere and lasts all day. There’s no right way or wrong way. It’s crazy powerful. It’s magical. You already know how to use it. It’s 2000 laughs and counting. All the world’s improv in your hands. It’s scenework, games, more characters than you could meet in a lifetime. It’s Sean, John, Jeremy, Kate, Josh, Ann Marie, Chris, and Hobert. It’s already a revolution. And it’s only just begun."

The 708

It’s time for something amazing. Any ordinary object you suggestbecomes a larger-than-life experience that inspires the team for all the scenes that follow. The 708 are veterans of the DSI Comedy philosophy.

Biological Necessities

Biological Necessities is a raucous young group of improv minded no-goodigens, drawn together in equal parts by their shared love of making people laugh, and the collective dirtiness of their minds. Despite the eternal bond BN now shares, the group was originally cast solely to represent NC State at the southeast regional of the College Improv Tournament. However, once the group (and the rest of the world) got one little taste of the sweetness, there would be, and could be,
no going back. BN is: Chuck Givens, John Fowler, Kevin Bragg, Mike Davidoff, Zac Hobert Thompson, and Vinny Valdivia (and occasionally the Papal Cleeferson McPoperschteen) Our Show: Biological Necessities loves nothing more than taking one audience suggestion, and exploding in your face with comedy! You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and who knows, maybe you’ll even learn something??? Come and see why BN are no longer allowed in God-fearing parts of the
country!

Vaguely Familiar

This has happened to everyone at one time or another. You’re sitting around with your friends, talking about random things. All of a sudden, you get an idea. It’s either the best idea of you’ve ever heard, or the worst. Either way, it’s going to be an interesting night. Come see us. The experience will be Vaguely Familiar.

Jun
21

GrazeFest Coming to Downtown

graze The Raleigh Downtown Farmers Market will host GrazeFest, a celebration of grass-fed and pasture-raised farm foods, on Wednesday June 23 from 10am – 2pm. The market, located each week at City Plaza on the 400 block of Fayetteville Street, invites food lovers of all ages to enjoy festivities that showcase North Carolina’s harvest of beef, lamb, pork, poultry, cheeses, eggs, milk, and other dairy products. The event features a chef demonstration by Sarig Agasi (of Zely & Ritz), an ice-cream eating contest with Lumpy’s Ice Cream, and bluegrass music by Old Habits. Portia McKnight of Chapel Hill Creamery will show aspiring cheese-makers how to stretch mozzarella using milk from her Jersey cows raised down the road in Orange County. Festival-goers can purchase a grass-fed lunch prepared by market farmer Coon Rock Farm. They will be serving grilled bratwurst from pasture raised heritage breeds for $5 per sandwich. At 11:30 am, kids are invited to a special EGGstravaganza with egg relays, veggie trivia, veggie charades, and a market scavenger hunt.  

While at the market, customers can visit the information booth and sign up for a free raffle where they can win a copy of The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook, or 4 flex tickets including a parking pass to a North Carolina Symphony’s Summerfest concert of choice ($90). All meat lovers are invited to pick up a free copy of “The Great News about Grass,” an informative publication offering tips for making the most of pasture-raised foods and showcasing great recipes.

Event Schedule

Coon Rock Farm sausage sandwiches will be for sale during the market.

10 am Market Opens
10:30 am – 1:45pm Bluegrass Music by Old Habits
11:15 am – 11:30 am Mozzarella Stretching Demonstration, Portia McKnight, Chapel Hill Creamery
11:30 EGGstravaganza
12:00 pm-12:30 pm Chef Demonstration, Sarig Agasi, Zely & Ritz
1:00 pm-1:15 pm Lumpy’s Ice Cream Eating Contest
2pm Market Closes
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