Jan

Pauly Shore Coming to Goodnights

On the weekend of August 13, Pauly Shore will make his way to Goodnights in Raleigh.

Posted by Dana on January 20, 2011 | Tags: Comedy . | ( 1 ) Comment

Jan

Katy Perry Coming to RBC Center

On Tuesday, June 14, Katy Perry will bring her tour to the RBC Center. Perry is apparently a pop singer who is trying to promote her brand new CD, Teenage Dream. Promoters are really hoping that people will give this CD a chance. OK that was sarcasm. This concert will have enormous appeal to small children, though it will not be a G-rated event.

NOTE: Tickets go on sale Saturday, January 29 at Noon at all Ticketmaster outlets.

Posted by Dana on January 20, 2011 | Tags: Music . | ( 0 ) Comments

Jan

Interpol Coming to Disco Rodeo

On Wednesday, May 4, the Cat’s Cradle will present Interpol at the Disco Rodeo in Raleigh. Tickets go on sale Friday and are $25 in advance.

Posted by Dana on January 19, 2011 | Tags: Music . | ( 4 ) Comments

Jan

Tim Reynolds Coming to Lincoln Theatre

The unofficial lead guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band, Tim Reynolds , will be bringing his band, TR3, to the Lincoln Theatre on Saturday, March 5. Reynolds is an incredible guitar player, and this is sure to be a treat. Given the sabbatical that the DMB is taking this summer, the creative energies of Reynolds will be interesting to follow over the next few seasons.

Posted by Dana on January 18, 2011 | Tags: Music . | ( 0 ) Comments

Jan

Getting My Resume In Order

Every few years or so there is an area coaching change that gets me excited. I like dentistry, but seriously, if I could make over a million dollars coaching an area college basketball team to the NIT every year, I’d do it in a heartbeat. Given the way that N.C. State is playing, I just may get my chance.

Unless Debbie Yow is interested in make a bold statement to assert her power, we are still a couple of months away from slamming the servers at flightaware.com . In the meantime, the most likely chance of success is to hire a not-old coach with a clean record and experience head coaching a smaller school to success. Here are the names of 12 coaches to think about as the season progresses:

Randy Bennett (St. Marys-Cal)
Mark Turgeon (Texas A&M)
Gregg Marshall (Wichita St)
Cuonzo Martin (Missouri St)
Mark Fox (Georgia)
Ken Bone (Wash. St)
Fred Hoiberg (Iowa St)
Blaine Taylor (ODU)
Tad Boyle (Colorado)
Chris Mooney (Richmond)
Ron Everhart (Duquense)
Chris Mack (Xavier)

Yes, I am digging the grave for the team in West Raleigh. Given that they can only lose 4 more ACC games in order to make the tournament, and still have UNC and Duke twice, among others, remaining on their schedule, the chances of Lowe surviving this season with his talented team are slim to none.

Posted by Dana on January 16, 2011 | Tags: Sports . | ( 10 ) Comments

Jan

Hard Times for Restoration Hardware

If you have any gift certificates or store credits for Restoration Hardware , you may want to go ahead and redeem them now. There is no word of any plans for the Crabtree store as of now , however I just learned that there location at Atlanta’s Lenox Square is closing soon. The company has been in a two-year slide that included even the closing of their flagship store. If they are having problems keeping their location at one of America’s most affluent malls open now, then there are problems in the company that severely limit the prognosis in nice malls like Crabtree.

When Restoration Hardware opened around 10 years ago, they offered a fresh, funky look at home furnishings. They offered an excellent collection of furniture that put a modern touch on classic French Country. The selection was topped off with an interesting assortment of sit around, funky new versions of antique toys, and more. About a year ago someone in the company thought it would be a good idea to completely change the store’s motif. Instead of the clean, bright, uplifting look that made the store so popular, designers went with an all-shades-of-brown look that created the most depressing retail store I’ve ever seen. The company’s executives will likely blame the housing crash, and perhaps that is what put the company in a tailspin two years ago. However this last attempt at saving the company was the wrong one and was a loser move for consumers.

This is potentially bad news for Crabtree Valley Mall, as well. Crate & Barrel will be closing its doors in the mall on January 23 (and moving to Southpoint on March 3). A loss of Restoration Hardware would leave the once flourishing home furnishings sector of Crabtree to just Pottery Barn.

Posted by Dana on January 16, 2011 | Tags: Retail . | ( 7 ) Comments

Jan

Steve-O Coming to Goodnights

On the weekend of April 28th, Steve-O is coming to Goodnights Comedy Club. Tickets are available online.

Posted by Dana on January 14, 2011 | Tags: Comedy . | ( 0 ) Comments

Jan

Tim McGraw Coming to TWC

On Friday, July 8, Tim McGraw will return to the Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek. Opening will be Luke Bryan and The Band Perry .

Posted by Dana on January 13, 2011 | Tags: Music . | ( 0 ) Comments

Jan

GoTriangle Joins Google Transit

I just got a very interesting press announcement. The partnership between these two will make navigating our Triangle-wide bus systems much easier!

Google and the GoTriangle family of services are pleased to announce that the Google Transit trip planner ( www.google.com/transit ) now includes all local transit schedules and routes for the Triangle region. The GoTriangle family of services include Capital Area Transit (CAT), Cary Transit (C-Tran), Chapel Hill Transit (CHT), Durham Area Transit Authority (DATA), North Carolina State University Wolfline, and Triangle Transit. The addition of GoTriangle trip planning services to Google marks the beginning of the full regional technology program, GoLive , which will also include a regional real-time system and an open-source data warehouse.

In 2003, GoTriangle launched a Transit Trip Planner at gotriangle.org so that transit riders can find a best match for their next trip. Triangle commuters can enter destination information in “from” and “to” fields from the GoTriangle.org home page. Using all of the local transit schedules, the trip planner calculates the length of time the trip will take and suggests the quickest, most efficient route. Customers can select not only transit but also a combination of biking and walking.

With Google Transit, Triangle visitors and regular transit users can now plan their trips using familiar technology while on the go with Google mobile apps, allowing for searches on smart phones such as the iPhone and Droid. By utilizing Google search, riders have more options for starting and destination points, making for a smoother trip planning experience and easier integration into a transit-oriented lifestyle.

As part of the GoTriangle’s commitment to openness and providing resources to Triangle commuters, all bus system data will be available as GTFS (General Transit Feed Specification) files. These files will be available late January 2011 on GoTriangle for developers to create useful mobile phone apps.

Posted by Dana on January 13, 2011 | Tags: Transportation . | ( 1 ) Comment

Jan

Tom Green Coming to Goodnights

On March 18 and 19, Tom Green is returning to Goodnights Comedy Club. Tickets are available online.

Posted by Dana on January 13, 2011 | Tags: Comedy . | ( 0 ) Comments

Jan

Kracker Returning to Raleigh, Chesney, Too

Hide yo kids and hide yo wife because on Friday, August 5, Uncle Kracker will make his way back to Raleigh as an opening act for Kenny Chesney . The show is at the Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek. Billy Currington also opens.

Posted by Dana on January 12, 2011 | Tags: Music . | ( 0 ) Comments

Jan

Staal, Ward Named to All-Star Team

Congratulations to hometown heroes Eric Staal and Cam Ward who were both named to the 42-man NHL All-Star Team. Staal is eighth in the NHL in goals, and will participate in his fourth consecutive All-Star game. It will be Ward’s first All-Star appearance. He is now 7th in the NHL is save percentage and fourth in minutes played for goaltenders.