A trip to the Skylight Exchange

I took a step back in time recently when a friend introduced me to Chapel Hill’s Skylight Exchange. This hole-in-the-wall is enthralling. It’s part cafeteria, part record store, part used book store and part music venue.

I could spend hours in this old-school place browsing titles and thumbing through records, looking for the perfect ironic cover to hang on the wall.

And the sandwiches. Oh the unique sandwiches. I ordered the BBQ chicken salad, and it was the best sandwich I’ve had in recent memory. I’ve heard that the shakes are stellar, but I didn’t get one. I need to make another trip there so I can try one.

I don’t know much about the history of this place, but it’s pretty well hidden. When I asked two of my chick friends, both UNC grads, if they’ve ever been there, neither had heard of it. It’s tucked in an alley off Rosemary Street.

Certainly, some of you have been there before and can share some details I’m leaving out about this eclectic venue.

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.

Loving this cat could lead to a vampire clown attack

As seen in the window of a bookshop on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill.

I forgot to write down the name of the store, so if you know where this is, please post it in the comments below. I think all businesses should be required to have a cat. How awesome would that be (unless you’re allergic or hate them, of course)?!

Shopping for that perfect UNC Final Four T-shirt

For the past week, there has been a U-Haul stationed outside the Hardee’s on NC 54 and Harrington Road in Durham selling UNC Final Four T-shirts. I chatted with the guys running it today (they work for Chapel Hill Sportswear) and they said they’ve sold about 700 to 800 T-shirts since Sunday. They set up shop on the street corner because it can be difficult to find parking at the Chapel Hill Sportswear shop on Franklin Street and this new spot offers a prime selling location.

They said they got permission from Hardee’s to sell T-shirts from the parking lot. Apparently, their informal shop drives additional traffic to the fast food restaurant.

Don’t hate me just because I microwaved my Peeps

Perhaps the most amusing thing happening in the Triangle this weekend is PeepFest 2008 at Market Street Books in Chapel Hill. The daylong event celebrates the marshmellow chicks and bunnies with activities such as Peeps jousting and a Peeps fashion show. This year’s theme is “Imagine World Peeps.” For the full list of activities click here. Market Street Books is located in Arts & Letters Community Center, 610 Market St.

In honor of this Peepabration, I made a quick video featuring the sugary, gooey animals. If you want to follow along, log onto How to Microwave a Peep while you watch this.

Without being grossly inappropriate, please tell me if you’ve ever put something else in the microwave that wasn’t supposed to go in there and what happened.

Buying gourmet goodies may help save some land

I haven’t been to A Southern Season in Chapel Hill since I moved back to the Triangle. For those of you who have never been, it’s a gourmet market that you can easily spend hours in if you’re hungry and love to shop (it’s so fabulous that I have a girlfriend who actually shrieks every time you say you went without her). You can take cooking classes there, sample wines on the weekends, dine in its restaurant (the Weathervane) and shop for delicious candies, coffees, housewares and oh so much more. OK, I’ll stop now, I’m starting to sound like a commerical.

I bring this up because I found out today that A Southern Season is teaming up with the Triangle Land Conservancy for a day-long fundraiser next month. On Tuesday, March 17, the market is giving the conservancy 5 percent of all retail sales. The conservancy works to protect open space and other natural areas in Durham, Wake, Orange, Chatham, Johnston and Lee counties. The nonprofit is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, according to a news release I read today.

Anyway, if you haven’t been to the market in a while or *gasp* not at all, this might be a good excuse to check it out.

More Murders in Raleigh and Durham, What Can You Do?

Triangle-area homicides were up in 2007, the News & Observer reports today.

In Raleigh, 22 occurred in 2007. That’s up from 19 in 2006.

Durham saw the biggest increase, with 29 homicides occurring in 2007. In 2006, there were 19 homicides in the Bull City. Durham’s overall number may rise to 30, depending on whether a man who died Saturday while on the run from Durham police is deemed to have been killed by gunfire or as the result of his car crashing afterward.

Cary remained steady with 1 homicide in both 2006 and 2007.

No homicides occurred in Chapel Hill in 2007. There were two in 2006.

A local funeral director and community activist dissected the numbers and found that at least 29 of Triangle’s homicide victims in 2007 were age 25 or younger, the N&O reports. A candlelight vigil for all the victims is being planned for the evening of Jan. 18.

If you’ve got something to say on the subject, consider attending the “Stop the Violence Town Hall Meeting” scheduled from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Jan. 19 at the Marbles Museum, 201 E. Hargett St., Raleigh. It will include a youth panel, breakout sessions and brainstorming. To see the complete agenda, click here.

Have You Ever Spoken Up at a Public Hearing?

As a former government reporter, I’ve probably sat through at least a few hundred public hearings at meetings of city and county councils, school boards and even state legislative committees.

Sometimes they’re well attended (particularly in Durham, a city where residents actually come out to speak on everything from speed humps to theater designs). But often the public never shows up and residents lose their chance to have any say with a quick tap of the gavel.

It’s disappointing more people don’t get involved in the way governments spend their taxes. But it’s not always convenient to show up to city hall in the evening and wait your turn to speak. Apparently a Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools’ administrator recognizes this. The Herald-Sun reports today that Steve Scroggs has started a blog to generate feedback from the public on the district’s 10-year plan for building and renovating new schools.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hey ACC Sports Fans, What’s Your Political Affiliation?

It seems there’s a poll for everything anymore. The latest gauges the political affiliations of ACC sports fans.

The poll says that NC State is the most popular ACC school among Triangle sports fans who are likely to vote with 31 percent of respondents picking the school. UNC comes in second (23 percent) and Duke third (17 percent). See the full results here.

And that’s not all. The “ACC loyalty poll” also finds that UNC has the largest percentage of fans who consider themselves Democrats (58 percent), while Duke has the largest percentage who say they’re Republican (40 percent). NC State fans are more likely to be Democrats (46 percent) than Republicans (36 percent). Check out the political breakdown here and keep in mind that some people didn’t share their political affiliations.

The poll by Raleigh-based Public Policy Polling surveyed 505 people identified as likely to vote in the general election. I had to find out why the firm took this seemingly unnecessary poll, so I called the company’s communications director, Tom Jensen, this morning. Here’s what he said: Read the rest of this entry »

All I Want for Christmas is Free Parking

The Town of Chapel Hill is giving motorists a small Christmas present: Free Parking — well, sort of. There are, of course, conditions attached to it, such as having to get “parking coupons” from shopkeepers. But it’s worth looking into to save a few bucks. Here’s an idea, instead of spending the cash you save on a latte, why not put it in one of the Salvation Army kettles you’ll no doubt see stationed around local shopping centers this holiday season or to your favorite charity.