A glimpse at UNC’s new ballpark

I arrived early for a meeting at UNC Tuesday morning, so I decided to walk over to the new Boshamer Stadium, which is currently under construction.

The Bosh is supposed to be open for the 2009 season. Here’s a peak at how things are going.

I’m not big into college baseball, but I thought some of you might appreciate a look at how construction’s going.

Exploring Durham’s Scrap Exchange

A place worth checking out in Durham is the Scrap Exchange. It’s a nonprofit that sells the most random stuff that factories and businesses probably would have thrown away. Instead of going to the landfill, Scrap Exchange volunteers pick up the eclectic materials and take them to the the nonprofit’s 13,000-square-foot warehouse in downtown Durham.

If you have a penchant for exploring, it’s easy to spend hours in there on your first trip. Blue barrels line the front of the store and are filled with everything from puzzle pieces to leftover lapel pins. There’s also an art gallery that always features unique pieces. The latest exhibit is the $20 art show, where everything in the gallery is for sale for $20.

At NBC17, our reporters have been exploring ways to save money, something we’re all trying to do a little bit more of given the increase in gas and food prices. I told our news director how rad the Scrap Exchange is, so he sent me there with a photographer, who helped me put together my first-ever package for TV. I also took my own camera and produced a story for Durham.MyNC.com, a community news site that our station also produces. Here’s the resulting video or you can read the full story here.

I’ve asked some of you this before, but what are some of your favorite places in Durham (or around the Triangle for that matter) where you can spend a lot of time without spending a lot of money? Who knows, maybe I’ll have a chance to feature it.

Take your Breathalyzer on-the-go

You’ll be able to get more than a hot dog and bag of chips at a vending cart in downtown Raleigh this weekend.

If you’re drinking at one of the bars in the Glenwood South district Friday night, you’ll have a chance to take an alcohol breath test, but it’ll cost you.

Yes, for $5 you can take an alcohol breath test (the term “Breathalyzer is a brand name, or I would just say that instead) at a push cart. The cart will be set up by Alcohol Educators, Inc. The service will let drinkers determine their blood alcohol concentration to help them determine whether they should drive home or not. The company’s slogan is apparently “DWI = $10,000. Knowing what you’d blow = Priceless.”

My guess is there will be more than one group of buddies who stumble upon on the vending service and challenge each other to see who can blow the highest BAC. But who knows, maybe the service will discourage someone from driving home with a BAC over North Carolina’s 0.08 percent legal limit.

The cart will be on the corner of Glenwood and Johnston Avenues (the same corner where Bogart’s is located) from 9:30 p.m. to 2 a.m., according to a news release I read today. It won’t be there if there’s “inclimate weather” though.

Do you think this service will lead fewer people to drive home intoxicated or do you think it will spark more binge drinking among competitive friends?

You’re invited to a blogger bash!

I’m organizing a blogger bash with my friend and co-worker Wayne Sutton, and you’re invited. Here’s the deal. We want to meet and mingle with everyone who blogs and/or reads blogs in the Triangle.

So we’re inviting you all to a blogger bash from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, July 30. The bash will be at Edge Office, an awesome showroom in the heart of Raleigh’s Glenwood South, 400 Glenwood Ave.

And it really will be a bash! Big Boss Brewing Company will be on hand to serving the delicious Angry Angel, a pale German-style Ale. There will be some tasty BBQ from The Pit, a Raleigh restaurant that is so good it was recently featured on the Today Show.

The BEST PART is that Wayne and I will have an exciting announcement that you won’t want to miss.

So, even if you can only drop by for a little bit. Please do so. I’d love to meet you. And remember, you don’t have to blog to attend.

If you know you’re coming, drop me an e-mail or post a comment so I know to expect you. But if you’re like me, and it’s hard for you to plan that far in advance, then just show up. Just be sure to flag me down and say hello if you make it.

Blogging, Big Boss and BBQ, oh my.

Dispatches from RDU

Just a note to let you know I’ll be away from my beloved Triangle for a tiny bit. I’m headed to southern Illinois to meet my baby nephew and spend some QT with my 13-year-old sister. So I’ll leave you with some scenes from Raleigh-Durham International Airport. I wanted to snap a few shots of how the Triangle is displayed to the many visitors who travel through our airport every day.

And just so you know. If you want to take a picture inside the ACC store. You have to get permission AND show the photograph to the guy behind the counter. Weird.

Keep the Triangle cool for me. I’ll be back later next week.

It’s no shimmer wall, but it’ll do

I had Raleigh’s new shimmer wall on the brain when I walked past the Durham Performing Arts Center last week. The shimmer wall adorns the side of Raleigh’s new convention center, providing an artistic splash on the wall that covers the center’s air conditioning system. So, when I passed Durham’s new arts center last week, I was initially disappointed to see that the side of the center facing the American Tobacco complex was concrete and vacant.

I was prepared to suggest that the city (which funding the $44 million arts center) sponsor a mural contest, encouraging local artists to submit their designs, with the winning one being selected to cover the blah wall. But I contacted city spokeswoman Amy Blalock first to make sure the city wasn’t ahead of me, and it looks like the city already has a plan to hide the concrete. Here’s her e-mail response:

According to Alan (DeLisle, assistant city manager with the Office of Economic & Workforce Development) the South and West sides of the deck will be covered with long banners from the Broadway plays until the development occurs around the deck.  Eventually, the deck will be wrapped with development and you won’t be able to see the concrete.  In the meantime, the banners will cover the concrete.

I’m also excited about the Broadway shows that will be appearing at the Durham Performing Arts Center during it’s debut season. Among them are Rent, The Color Purple and Legally Blonde. The city’s huge downtown investment in this project is about to take off.

And while there are some naysayers who didn’t support the city’s decision to invest so many tax dollars into this project, now that the center is nearly complete, it would be lovely if Triangle folks would come together and support yet another Durham leap into the arts.

Massive kitten adoptathon scheduled Saturday

If you find kittens ridiculously adorable and feel an uncontrollable urge to shower them with love, then you may want to make plans Saturday to head over to the PetSmart at 2800 E. Millbrook Road in Raleigh. That’s where the SPCA of Wake County will be hosting a “SUPER kitten adoptathon” (their words, not mine) from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. 30 kittens will be available for adoption.

Apparently, summer is kitten season at the SPCA, which has seen a major influx in cats being left at the shelter. The shelter is attributing the kitten explosion to the declining economy, according to a news release.

Current hard times are forcing people to make some dififciutl decisions, such as giving up their pets. The increase in surrendered cats and dogs combined with teh decrease in adoptions is leading to increase euthanasia rates.

As an incentive, the shelter is reducing the adoption price to $47.50, which covers spaying/neutering, a microhip, deworming and vaccinations (including rabies).

Also on Saturday, 20 kittens and 50 cats will be available for adoption at the SPCA adoption center at 200 Petfinder Lane in Raleigh. Raleigh. If you need to see some kittens to get you in the mood, check out the kitten generator or this video of a kitten tht one of my coworkers recently adopted.

But if you’re going to adopt a kitten, don’t forget that they grow into cats that seem to live forever. I adopted my cats in 2000 and have been dragging them around with me ever since.

Raleigh’s shimmer wall is stunning

The shimmering oak tree that lives on the west facade of Raleigh’s new convention center is simply stunning. The sprawling tree is made up of nearly 80,000 light and dark aluminum squares and was completed a couple weeks ago. When the wind blows, the squares flap and it looks as if waves are rolling over the tree.

Soon, the tree will be backlit by LEDs, allowing the tree to glow and reflect a ton of colors. That won’t happen until the convention center officially opens on Sept. 5.

The success of this public art piece (or design feature, depending on who you ask) is apparently a big deal in Raleigh, which has had some hangups with other public art attempts, the News & Observer reports.

Two years ago, Raleigh officials rejected a hydro-electronic abstract sculpture planned for Fayetteville Street that was designed by Jaume Plensa, an internationally known Spanish artist. The decision led businessman Jim Goodmon to withdraw his offer to pay $2.5 million to help fund the project.

And then, in the mid-90s, there was a debate over the Time + Light Tower located in the median of Capital Boulevard north of the Fairview Road ramp, the N&O reminds us. The 40-foot tower is made up of glass panels that reflect rainbow colors.

I remember riding down Capital with my friend Graham when I first moved to Raleigh and asking him what that tower was. When he told me it was a public art piece, I laughed. It’s actually pretty cool (compared to most things in the Capital Boulevard median, anyway). When the Time + Light Tower went up, it “was called an ‘old derrick with mirrors’ by Tom Fetzer, Raleigh’s mayor at the time,” the N&O reports.

If you haven’t had a chance to see the shimmer wall for yourself, check out this hasty video I made.

The easiest place to pull over and view it is on Cabarrus Street, which is sorta closed for construction right now. Just head down South Dawson Street and turn left on Cabarrus Street to park. Then get out of your car and admire it’s beauty. An oak tree, of course, is a fitting shimmer wall stamp for the City of Oaks.

Have you seen the shimmer wall yet? Do you love it or are you underwhelmed?

Fireworks raincheck at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park

I celebrated Independence Day twice this year. On Friday, I saw fireworks blast off a barge floating on Skull Creek during my Hilton Head Island trip. Then, upon returning to the Triangle Sunday, I found out that a wicked storm crashed the fireworks at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

So I found myself watching the Durham fireworks Monday night at the ballpark. Of course, it wasn’t as cool as if I had been there on the Fourth to see Kevin Costner perform in honor of the 20th anniversary of Bull Durham. Still, it was exhilarating to watch the fireworks shoot up from a trailer parked in center field of the ballpark.

There weren’t a lot of people at the DBAP for Monday’s raincheck display. I guess parents didn’t feel like dragging their children out so late on a Monday night. Here’s what you missed:

Apparently, Friday night’s storm was so violent that it knocked out power to the ballpark, prompting officials to make arrangements to install emergency lighting, according to The News & Observer.

Jesse Helms’ memorial takes over Five Points

You can’t help but do a double take when satellite trucks are parked in Raleigh’s quaint Five Points neighborhood and reporters and photographers are stationed outside the stately Hayes Barton Baptist Church.

The media is taking over the grounds surrounding the church because that’s where former Sen. Jesse Helms’ memorial service and funeral are being held.

The News & Observer has thorough coverage of seemingly every aspect of Helms’ life and career:

Helms became known as “Senator No” for his battles against everything from increased government spending to civil rights legislation, from communism to the National Endowment for the Arts. Helms was even willing to wage war against fellow Republicans if he thought they were straying from the conservative agenda.

In North Carolina, Helms was a political surgeon, grafting the old segregationist Democratic Party into the body of a newly revived Republican Party. Helms made sure Robert E. Lee was remembered at GOP dinners, and the playing of “Dixie” was never out of fashion at his rallies.

I took a few pictures outside the church Monday night, but I didn’t feel compelled to go inside.