Last Chance to Vote for Centennial Campus Middle School
If you haven’t seen the video that some 7th graders at Centennial MS made,
take a few minutes and enjoy this
. The video one of five middle school finalists in the $25,000 Interactive Classroom Makeover contest. Voting for the grand prize winner ends at Noon, so be sure to take a moment to
vote for Centennial
!
Dora the Explorer Coming to Memorial Auditorium
Dora the Explorer Live will come to Raleigh’s Memorial Auditorium for 7 shows, beginning Friday, February 20.
Tickets
are available through Ticketmaster.
Also, don’t miss Annie, beginning November 18th.
Robin Williams Coming to Durham
The Durham Performing Arts Center will welcome Robin Williams on Friday the 13th…of March 2009. Tickets are $75 – $100 and go on sale tomorrow at Ticketmaster outlets at 10am.
Hurricanes Host Caps in HD
If you can’t make it to tonight’s Carolina Hurricanes game, you can catch it in HD on Fox Sports South-HD (TWC Channel 291). It is one of the 12 remaining games this season that will be in HD. The puck drops at 7!
More Dirty Speculation
Another Raleigh site, once again, is reporting rumors of additional downtown business demises in the wake of the Riviera’s recent closing. At the Independent Weekly’s blog, the floor manager and chef of one of downtown’s best restaurants flatly deny the rumors.
Why sites feel the need to publicize the possible demise of specific downtown’s pillars is beyond me. Recent reports of a popular downtown retailer having empty shelves is only going to invite potential customers through big-box competitors’ doorways. Regarding restaurants, the natural reaction to rumored woes is to avoid the place. Nobody likes being in a dead restaurant serving possibly not-so-fresh food. The result of these errant stories is to fulfill their own prophecy. Is that what other sites really want? If so, the “nonoraleigh.com” domain is available.
Wasn’t the $221 million convention center supposed to fix all of downtown’s woes? Weren’t the $9 million Fayetteville Street project and the $60 million Marriott supposed to make downtown the best area in Raleigh? I’m being facetious, of course (I really like downtown’s improvements), however to blame “the economy” is an exercise for the lazy. As of this post, two expensive restaurants (and soon-to-be- third) have recently opened at Crabtree, and people are still waiting for tables at the Cheesecake Factory and P.F. Chang’s.
Where is the talk about closings of Ruth’s Chris, Coquette, Vivace, Rey’s, An, Bonefish, Firebird’s, Outback Steakhouse, Shabashabu, The Melting Pot, Twisted Fork, Portabellos, Cafe Tiramisu, Bloomsbury Bistro, Porter’s, Frazier’s, Glenwood Grill, Evoo, Taverna Agora, and Michael Dean’s? Surely these, which are all on the price level of the rumored downtown restaurants, are feeling a crunch. Some of them may not even make it through this market slump. However, doesn’t it stand to reason that their failure rate should be the same as downtown’s if “the economy” is the source of the problem? If the failure rate is indeed higher in downtown than in other parts of Raleigh, then perhaps the lack of a billion dollars of downtown investment (much of it being forced public money) is not what was holding downtown back after all.
Carpenter Ads Showing Up
Congratulations to Adam Carpenter! I had the TBL/WAS hockey game on in the background last night and happened to look up during a commercial. Lo and behold,
the 28 year-old Raleigh native is the spokesperson in Budweiser’s new “Drinkability” campaign
(see link to the ad). The ad has been on for a little over a month during NFL and NHL games, among others, and Adam just got his first residual check for his work recently.
This is actually Carpenter’s second major promotional spot. He was featured in Huggies’ recent “ Future Fireman ” spot. However it didn’t quite get the widespread play that Drinkability is getting via the sporting world.
Disney Transportation Lessons
In the newest episode of the
Magical Definition Podcast
, Jim Hill and Nathan Rose have a fascinating discussion about Disney’s methods of moving people throughout the years. The company has aimed to be as “green” as possible, but, as discussed, costs become a huge factor in carrying out one’s vision. Skip to 13:00 in the podcast to hear a discussion about the monorail and
MAGLEV
trains that were meant to be.
Sitti Opening Thanksgiving Week
For over three decades the Saleh family has shared their passion for Mediterranean food with the Triangle with their Neomonde bakery and market. The next chapter is about the begin, as their sit-down restaurant, Sitti, is hiring and is almost ready to open. Located in the former Heilig-Levine space at Wilmington and Hargett Streets, Sitti is backed by Greg Hatem’s Empire Properties . The restaurant is shooting for Monday, November 24th as their opening date.
Personally, I can’t wait for this restaurant to open. One of the five restaurants that I miss most was Sadak’s, a middle-Eastern restaurant on Hillsborough Street. The owner is now focusing on his long-held Hector’s at Crabtree site, which does serve excellent food. However, Raleigh has really craved a nice restaurant serving middle-eastern fare.
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Time Warner Cable To Roll Out Five New HD Channels
Next Thursday, November 20, Time Warner Cable will continue its previously featured rollout of new HD channels. This wave includes CNN-HD, Planet Green-HD , MGM-HD , Team HD, and Game HD.
Technically MGM is a new channel, however it is a replacement for the sadly soon-to-be-defunct Mojo network. Team HD and Game HD are channels where subscription holders for NBA, NHL, and MLB season pass packages can see games in HD.
Additionally, PBS Kids’ new SD preschool channel, Sprout , will be added to the TWC lineup.
Solid Waste on Normal Schedule
From the city’s website :
Solid Waste Services WILL NOT observe the Veteran’s Day holiday on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008. All routes for recycling, garbage and yard waste will run on their normal days on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week (There are no Monday routes).
Tobacco Road Menu Coming Together
It’s not final, but the
Tobacco Road
menu is coming together nicely. It looks like there is a nice selection of items beyond typical bar food, and enough items that one won’t allow one to tire of the place.
Small Plates
- Grilled Steak Nachos
- Southern Hummus and Pimento Cheese
- Seafood Cocktail
- Fried Calamari
- Hot Wings
- NC Blue Crab Dip
- NC Blue Crab Chowder
- Sauteed Shrimp
- Black Eyed Pease and Ham Hock
- Small Green Salad
- Chopped Salad
- Mix Field Green Salad
- Grilled Caeser Salad
- Baby Arugula and Beet Salad
Full Plates
- Roast Beef Sandwich
- Lamb Confit Wrap
- House Made Corn Dogs
- BBQ Sandwich
- Southwest Grilled Chicken Sandwich
- Triple Sliders
- Half Pound Burger
- Tomato Sandwich
- Rockfish Gorditas
- Jumbo Black Eye Pea Cakes
- Steak Frites
- Grilled Ribeye
- NY Strip
- Ashley Farm BBQ Chicken
- BBQ Baby Back Ribs
- Short Rib Pie
- NC Tuna
- Sauteed Scallops
- Fish and Chips
- Fried Chicken
Sides
- Mac & Cheese
- Pasta
- Potato Salad
- French Fries
- Sweet Potato Fries
- Cheddar Grits
- Cole Slaw
- Mashed Potatoes
- Onion Rings
Fleming’s Steakhouse Now Open
Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar had their soft opening for their newest location (Crabtree Valley Mall) last week. The grand opening party is tonight, so the restaurant will be able to see regular guests tomorrow.
MGM-HD Replacing MOJO on TWC
On November 20 MOJO network will no longer exist, so Time Warner Cable is replacing the channel with
MGM-HD
(on 291). MGM-HD is a movie channel that has a schedule that reads something like a 1980 HBO Guide.
In the next few months, Time Warner will also be rolling out their Start Over feature. Start Over “enables you to restart shows that are already in progress. Never miss the start of your favorite show again! With Start Over, Time Warner Cable gives you more convenience and control than ever before. Plus, Start Over is FREE with Digital Cable!” Most certainly this feature will require a 2-way communication device, thus excluding CableCard customers from yet another feature.
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