The (fantastic) North Carolina Zoo will be closed through the end of the weekend due to a broken water main,

Durham has apparently made the very short list of cities that may get a Tesla dealership. The first dealership for the all-electric sportscar opened on Thursday in Los Angeles. According to Autoweek, the next wave of stores will come to Menlo Park, CA (Silicon Valley), New York, Miami, Seattle, and Chicago. The third wave, however, mentions Washington, Boston, and Durham.

The Tesla is the first wide production all-electric sportscar. It boasts acceleration of 0-60 mph in under 4 seconds and tops out at 125mph. Delivery time is currently 15 months for the $109,000 cars.

Be sure to check out the June Bon Appetit issue. On page 108 is an article by Durham’s Sara Foster called “Pasta In A New Light”. I’m not sure which looks better, the Orzo with grilled shrimp, summer vegetables, and pesto vinaigrette or the Farfalle with chicken, tomatoes, caramelized onions, and goat cheese. (via)

If you haven’t gotten a chance to eat at Foster’s Market in Durham, make some time, especially for a lunch outing. The salads and sandwiches are fantastic. A Tennessee native, Foster went on to do the NYC thing, then on to being one of Martha Stewart’s catering chefs. After a stretch in Connecticut, she and her husband moved to Durham to open a market with “great seasonal prepared foods to eat in or take out, specialty grocery items, locally roasted coffee and select wines”. There is now a location in Chapel Hill, too, but don’t bother with it unless it is decidedly more convenient to visit that location.

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The Brightleaf Square (Durham) location for Taverna Nikos has apparently reopened. This ad appeared in a newspaper yesterday.

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Tomorrow marks the soft opening of Myrtle Beach’s Hard Rock Park. The brand new 140-acre theme park will feature four roller coasters, many carnival rides, interactive music pavilions, and numerous live music stages, all with classic rock and country themes.

The marquis ride of the park, though is "Led Zeppelin: The Ride", a 150-foot tall, 3,738 foot long, 65-mph, 6-inversion coaster by Bolliger & Mabillard. (video) If any of you have ridden a B&M coaster, you surely remember its smoothness and trademark whir. 

With the addition of the Hard Rock Park, there are now 35 first-rate roller coasters within a 3.5 hour drive of Raleigh.

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The Bravery will be playing a free concert in Greensboro tonight. The 6pm show was originally scheduled to be outside, but has been moved to the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center.

Their most recent CD, The Sun and Moon, ranks as my personal favorite CD of 2007. If you can’t make the road trip, catch their appearance on Late Night with Conan O’Brien on Wednesday night. They will be performing "Believe", the latest single from The Sun and Moon.

Alicia Keys is coming to the Greensboro Coliseum on May 30. The ticket presale begins on Friday through Ticketmaster. Opening will by Ne-Yo and Jordin Sparks.

Schoolkids Records, Chapel Hill location, will be closing it’s doors in March, 2008. It may be coincidence or not….but after 33 1/3 years, this long playing music retail institution will be closed. All Triangle retail business will be handled in the Raleigh location, which is located at 2712-100 Hillsborough St., while it still maintains a retail presence in Athens, Ga.

The business climate for music retail has changed so drastically since our beginnings, but so has the concept of locally owned businesses. We are faced with many more obstacles, that even 6 years ago were virtually not present. For all those in the Triangle area, who have supported all the Schoolkids Records location throughout the years and especially those in the Chapel Hill area, we would like to extend our many thanks and kudos for helping to keep this institution alive for so many years.

We would especially like to thank the University of North Carolina, the Cat’s Cradle, Local 506, WXYC, WXDU and The Merch, for their continuing support of our Chapel Hill location through the years. Now as we begin to flip the LP to side 2 of our existence, our goals have not changed nor has our commitment. We just hope that music retail will always be a part of your shopping experience, now and in the future.

Saturday, April 5 is when Mary J. Blige and Jay-Z are coming to the Greensboro Coliseum. The tickets go on sale to the public on Saturday at 10am, however the presale is currently going on and ends Friday at 10pm. Click here and enter the password "music".

The N&O has a story today (on page 4B) revealing that the movie version of the novel Blood Done Sign My Name will be filmed in North Carolina. The story is based on the Timothy Tyson novel involving memoirs of a 1970 racial killing in Oxford. The mayor of Oxford, Al Woodlief, said that his community welcomes the film crew, and delights at the opportunity to teach a history lesson. “And besides, maybe I’ll get to hang out with Gwyneth Paltrow.” (correction: this comment was made by the book’s author)

Oh boy. Another opportunity for Hollywood to portray the South as a bunch of racist hicks. To be sure, the storytellers in this movie will have no intention of highlighting the mayor’s point that “Oxford has changed very much in 30 years.” Instead they will blur fiction, stereotypes, and history with the present. Complete with bad southern accents, the movie will deliver a hit piece that will do irreparable damage to the reputation of Oxford. Poised to thrive from the fruits of being an outlying Raleigh community, the town, instead, will languish as transplants avoid the town stereotyped by Hollywood (all because of the actions of a few). Thanks a lot, Mayor Woodlief.

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The new issue of Our State magazine features "75 Things Every North Carolinian Should Do." They’ve published a .pdf version of the fun-looking list complete with links and/or addresses and phone numbers. Maybe I’ll put a copy in my car!

Unfortunately one of North Carolina’s best-kept secrets didn’t make the list; the massive blimp hangar at Elizabeth City (map it). The website discoverec.org describes the treasure as:

Lighter-than-air ships have had a major impact on Elizabeth City’s history and economy. It is not uncommon to see Monster.com, Sanyo, Fuji Film, and other blimps flying high above the city as they make their way to the US Naval Blimp Hangar. Visitors wishing to tour the facility will get the opportunity to learn about the Navy’s lighter-than-air history in Elizabeth City as well as view the company’s plant. Tours are held on Wednesdays at 3PM and run 30-45 minutes. All tours need to be arranged ahead of time.

What would have made your list?