WKNC Rocks

Published
by
kitch
on July 29, 2008
in music
. 1 Comment

Over the past four months I have really started to get back into music.  It’s been kinda nice.  It can help me relax, help me focus, entertain, get me dancing, shorten a drive, and more.  It has been ten years since I really spent any time pursuing or listening to music a whole lot, so getting started again was a challenge.  One of the greatest contributors to this personal musical renaissance has been WKNC 88.1.

Over the years I have listened to all different flavors of music, from U2 to Wu-Tang.  I find myself drawn mostly to “indie” or “college” rock now which KNC offers in spades.  I’ve been introduced to bands like MGMT, Vampire Weekend, Fleet Foxes, The Magnetic Fields, Islands, Sigur Ros and many others.  I also get to hear a number of selections from bands that I have enjoyed for years such as R.E.M., The White Stripes, Sonic Youth, and Ben Folds.

One of the great things about WKNC is plentiful listening options.  Their radio broadcast includes RDS so I can see the artist info and song titles of things I listen to which is awesome for finding new music and artists I like.  They also have great free streaming options for when I am at home or in the office.

There are like a zillion other options I’ve been using to expand my musical horizons as well.  I’ll discuss things like last.fm, pandora, Sirius, and friends in future posts.

Half-Priced Wine Night

Published
by
kitch
on July 22, 2008
in life
. 2 Comments

Ah what a wonderful concept.  Restaurants all over the US (World?) have been using the draw of a half-priced bottle of wine to lure customers in on “off” nights for some time now it seems.  Some also use the dinner for two and bottle of wine for XX dollars as well.  Either way, it keeps people happy and half-lit for low cost.

Just don’t stop to think about it is all.  The reason for this is because if you do think about it, the only realization you will come to is that you are getting hosed every other night of the week.  This should come as no surprise to most of us.  You’re paying at minimum 100% markup on most bottles of wine.  So even at half price they are probably making a buck or two on you and they got you in there to eat.  In the end, it’s not awful.  Most of as happily, or some times begrudgingly, pay these premiums for the joy that comes with a nice meal and a bottle of wine shared amongst friends.

With that I’ll share my favorites in Raleigh.  For a general kick back good time and CHEAP eats head to Helios on Tuesday nights.  I went last week with a few friends and it was a great time to sit back and relax, share a few stories, and a bottle of wine.  Another favorite is at Duck and Dumpling.  Be prepared to drop some coin on this but the food is AWESOME and they have an excellent wine list to choose from.

I Quit

Published
by
kitch
on July 15, 2008
in health
. 14 Comments

It’s that time again.  Once again I will attempt to quit smoking.  This will probably mark about the fourth honest try that that I have made at it.  In the past success has ranged from about 3-6 months each time.  Really hoping that it works this go round.  I’m kinda sick and tired of it.

I have used “the patch”, but I don’t really feel like it does a whole lot for me.  The only times I really want to smoke are the times that I have always smoked.  When I am bored and when I am drinking.  I feel like I have definitely found enough stuff to do to prevent the boredom factors.  The drinking part is by far and away the hardest of all.  Although the biggest helper this go round (at least I hope) is that I don’t really hang out with any smokers anymore.  Hoping this can be the big winner.

In previous attempts I haven’t really made a big public ordeal of it.  This is my final trick is to make this whole thing as public as humanly possible.  I think that if everyone knows I am trying to quit then I’ll feel like I have some personal accountability for the whole thing.  Certainly in the past I have felt that when I have failed it’s often because I don’t have the weight that I am doing it for anyone other than myself.  I know, that seems odd.  Obviously I am doing it for myself, but sometimes in those moments of weakness it helps to know that others want it for me too.

So that’s it.  Today is the start of day 3.  You can track my “progress” and thoughts at Qwitter.  Ignore the part from April, it was just a test.  Wish me luck!

Thanks Abby for the photo.

Fish “Toss”!

Published
by
kitch
on July 10, 2008
in life
. 8 Comments

Over the past few weeks I’ve definitely gotten into a few random encounters and activities, this was probably the most unexpected.  A new McCormick & Schmick’s is opening here in Raleigh at Crabtree Valley Mall.  I learned all about this from Ginny and Sue. M&S has a giant crab resting above the restaurant to help advertise.  It just so happens I share something in common with this crab.  Fortunately it’s not anything freaky like an exoskeleton, or a related disease, or infection.  No, we share a name, Jake.

Around a week ago Ginny and Sue made some connections and put me in touch with Dana with the PR firm running the Grand Opening event for this new restaurant.  Apparently they though that having someone with the same name as the crab was grounds for involvement in the whole ordeal.  So after a few email exchanges I was in.  In addition, Dana was nice enough to let me bring along a few friends, Abby and Kelly, to help make some memories.

The “Toss” wasn’t really much of a toss, more of a passing down a line,  but it was still cool.   The sad thing about the whole affair is that they lined up about 10 of us in our aprons in front of the place and did introductions.  “Please welcome Raleigh statesman X, Stormy!, Miss North Carolina,  NBC 17 News Anchor Page Crawford,  Executive Chef X, General Manager X, and some random dude named Jake.”  Not really embarrassing as much as flat ridiculous.  Hopefully some photos of the fish will show up, I’ll be sure to share.

Following the toss we all huddled inside near the bar where they were kind enough to provide lots of cold air conditioning, champagne, and delicious food!  We ended up sticking around for a number of hours and even ran into some other friends from the Carolina Rollergirls.  I think they may have even convinced someone we know to try out for the team!

Big thanks to my parents for blessing me with this wonderful name.  Had it not been for them we’d never have had so much random fun.

Finally, thanks to Abby for the photo to commemorate the occasion.

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First Amber, Now Silver

Published
by
kitch
on July 8, 2008
in life
. 2 Comments

There I was enjoying a nice leisurely drive into the office on a Friday morning.  Feeling good, bopping along to some Left of Center, when what do I spy but a “SILVER ALERT” on the I40 overhead information signs.  I think to myself, “Self, have you been drinking?”.  What is this “SILVER ALERT” they speak of?  Was AMBER not cool enough?  Were the kids feeling a little under appreciated?

As it turns out it’s a means to track missing persons that may not be able to care for themselves.  The NC Department of Crime Control and Public Safety describes the requirements for a Silver Alert as:

  • The person is 18 years old or older
  • The person is believed to be suffering from dementia or other cognitive impairment
  • The person is believed to be missing – regardless of circumstance
  • A legal custodian of the missing person has submitted a missing person’s report to the local law enforcement agency where the person went missing
  • Law enforcement reports the incident to the NC Center for Missing Persons

Just thought this was interesting.  One of those things that just made me say hrmmmm…  So I did a little investigation.  I’m sure most of you have either never seen one of these alerts or likely doesn’t care.  Regardless here is the info, take it or leave it.

Cheap Books Overnight

Published
by
kitch
on June 30, 2008
in Raleigh
. 4 Comments

Ever been awake late at night stuck with insomnia?  Maybe you just need a good book to read to settle the mind.  Then the age old problem of where to go to get a book late at night.  You’ve already recycled all those books on the shelves three times over.  If you are in the NC State\Hillsborough St. area of Raleigh then The Reader’s Corner is your answer.

They have a pretty substantial selection of used books lining the outside of the store.  On the left is a lot of reference material and hardbacks that will run you 25 cents a piece.  To the right is lighter reading and softcovers.  Tough call if you are trying to go to sleep.  The reference might be just the trick to put you to sleep.

I meandered through the shelves for a while today looking for any good pickups.  I love movie\book crossovers and they happened to have The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy by Robert Ludlum.  They actually had two copies of The Bourne Supremacy, each with a slightly different cover.  When I got home to break out  the first in the series, Identity, I noticed that instead of putting back one of the copies of Supremacy, I had returned Identity.  So I am now the proud owner of two copies of the same book.  I need to go back to swap out the duplicate, didn’t see much use in having two copies.

Just remember to drop your money in the drop slot before you leave.  I’m curious how many people leave exact change.  I know that I just threw in a dollar for the books I grabbed.  Total value, 20 cents.

Reader’s Corner is located at: 3201 Hillsborough St.  Raleigh, NC 27607

Light Speed Carl

Published
by
kitch
on June 25, 2008
in science
. 3 Comments

carl sagan

This past weekend there was a marathon of Cosmos on The Science Channel.  We’ll keep it simple for those with a short attention span.  Carl Sagan is the man.  That’s it, nothing more, be gone.  Seriously, look at that picture, he’s the man.

For the rest of you who enjoy these ramblings, I’ll continue.

Cosmos is a show from 1980 where Carl Sagan takes the most ridiculous topics related to astronomy, chemistry, physics, and others and manages to make it mildly engaging, entertaining, and educational.  I am willing to admit that I may be alone in this opinion.

I was especially engaged because two good friends of mine and I have had recent conversations about topics that were addressed by Carl.

First of these topics was the concept of time travel.  It is all centered around Einstein’s theory of relativity stating that as an object approaches the speed of light that time slows dramatically relative to those at rest.  Pretty sweet concept, but it’s not really time travel per say. It’s just kinda bending time and space a we bit.  If you ever get the itch to see what Earth is like in 30,000 years or so just travel near light speed for about 5 years.  Let me know how it goes, or leave a note on my grave or something.  You can’t travel backwards.

There is all kinds of cool stuff that happens as you approach the speed of light.  Your cone of vision would change dramatically.  To the point where you would actually see things in front of you that you already passed by.  It’s caused by the doppler affect on light.  We’ve all experienced it with a fire engine siren, well light waves do the same thing, pretty freaky.  In fact, if you were watching a person moving at the speed of light coming towards you they would “blue-shift“, going away and they would “red-shift“.  Some guys with a telescope actually figured this out.  It’s why pictures of far of galaxies have color.  Amazing.

“Teleportation” is another interesting concept.  I think we’ve all seen the The Fly, right?  Well, in astrophysics reality it’s a bit different.  The idea being that there are potentially these wormholes at the bottom of black holes that could lead across the galaxy, universe, or possibly other dimensions.  I’ll be honest, I was kind of napping during this one, so I don’t have much insight on the whole thing.  Still, pretty awesome, except for that whole near infinite gravity thing that would stretch you into oblivion.

Egads, I may be man-crushing.  Is that possible posthumously?

Oh Happy Day

Published
by
kitch
on June 23, 2008
in Uncategorized and life
. 4 Comments

It seems that this past Friday, June 20th, was the happiest day of the year.  I believe it.  Although given the amount of pure fun and excitement of the Raleigh Typhoon on Saturday it might be possible that they missed it by one day.  Let’s just call it the happiest weekend of the year to make it simple.

Cliff Arnall, a psychologist and former tutor at Cardiff University, devised the equation which follows.

According to the research this has been worked out using the equation O + (N xS) + Cpm/T + He.

O stands for being outdoors and outdoor activity, N is connection with nature, which is in full bloom now, S is socialisation with neighbours and friends, Cpm stands for childhood positive memories, T is the mean temperature which is now usually warm, and He is holiday expected.

So we’ve got some math (awesome) to help us figure out what makes for a happy day.  I think it works. Not only did I have a great weekend, but many other I know did as well.  Watching twitter a bit today and over the course of the weekend I noticed that all kinds of people had fun adventures.  The center of this for me, as well as 6 other tweeple (@dtraleigh, @nematome, @ginnyskal, @dimambro) and other friends, was the Raleigh Typhoon adventures.  I randomly bumped into a friend that was in from Philly for the weekend having a great time with old friends.  @chiatar was off vacationing.  @therab and @operationorange traveled off to heroescon in Charlotte, NC.  Add it all up and there were a lot of people having a lot of fun this weekend.

The takeaway is that those mathematicians\psychologist are right on the money and there theory has been validated.  Some might suggest that the “equation” is obvious.  People love great weather, the outdoors, good friends, and travel.  In the end, who cares, great weekend for all!

Via Lifehacker

Via UK Telegraph

Update: See more from Ginny and John

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Great Alternative Movie Viewing

Published
by
kitch
on June 19, 2008
in life
. 3 Comments

Earlier this week I saw a post on New Raleigh that The Colony will be having a one night viewing of The Big Lebowski for the 10th Anniversary of the film.  I had never seen the it in a theater previously, so I was really excited about the opportunity.  People came decked out in all kinds of bowling gear and Little Lebowski Over-Acheiver t-shirts.  Watching a movie with lots of serious fans can be a great experience, and this did not disappoint.  After the show last night all I could think about was going to the theatre to go check out more classic films.  Totally thrilled there are more to come over the summer via Cool Classics at the Colony.

The Colony doesn’t provide the only unique movie viewing in Raleigh.  The North Carolina Museum of Art also presents movies throughout the summer on the lawn.  NCMA shows a wide variety of film genres from art house films, to Oscar winners, to summer blockbusters, to nostalgic favorites.  I’m looking forward to Persepolis, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Michael Clayton, and The Bourne Ultimatum.

Another alternative viewing option comes to Moore Square in downtown Raleigh with their Saturday Movies.  Pretty wide variety of films to be seen here as well.  For me it’s going to be all about Close Encounters.  I saw this movie in the great outdoors when I was camping in Connecticut as a kid.  It’s just a killer film to see outside under the stars (or the streetlamp glare I suppose).  Either way, definitely one to go see if you are in town over the Fourth of July weekend.

Juiced Up Toothbrushes

Published
by
kitch
on June 18, 2008
in health
. 2 Comments

I am a wildly fanatical person when it comes to oral hygine.  It’s a problem I have.  There are worse issues to have, I think.  Part of my routine definitely includes the use of an electric toothbrush.  I love it.  I can’t live without it.  I started using one about four or five years ago and have been hooked ever since.

There are two main differences\advantages that I notice when using an electric brush. First is that my teeth are dentist smooth after normal brushing.  I love this feeling.  The other nice benefit is it means much smoother, shorter, less agonizing trips to the dentist.  It’s a quick trip through the pearly whites for my hygienist now that I made the switch.  They know that you are using an electric as soon as they get started, it makes that big a difference.

Kate sent me an email which prompted this little post.  She asked if I had a preference between the various brands of brushes out there.  I have always been an Oral-B user, currently the Oral-B ProfessionalCare® 8000 Series.  The newer models are definitely an improvement as they employ the ultra-sonic care along with the standard agitation of the older Oral-Bs.  The other major contender is sonicare from Phillips.  I don’t personally have experience with these brushes but I would guess they are also fairly effective.  I looked around for some good head to head comparisons but didn’t find much out there.

Next time:  The Reach Access.  awe-some.