The Archer Pelican

Home Field Advantage

Oh, sure, the Colorado Rockies get some home field advantage from playing at altitude, in thin air they're used to practicing in.

But they've got nothing on St. Matthew's Episcopal in Hillsborough for church league B-ball.

Id, Ego, and Super-Wal-Mart

"...will be asked to provide proof of age by showing proper id."

Hmm..  My Wiki-informed understanding* of the "id" is that it's the pleasure-principle, gimme now part of your self that is pretty much all you've got when you're a kid.  Not very adult like at all.  So is this Wal-Mart thing a trick question?  Don't ask me to explain why "40" is in "quotes".

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*"wiki-standing"?  Sorry, Ms. P.

Duke Dookie

Folks have wondered out loud about water conversation at Duke.  Here are two signs I saw in a dorm restroom while I was visiting a faculty fellow friend last week:

First, a yellow sign (that did not refer to "if it's yellow, let it mellow") posted in each stall.  Focused on cleanliness, not conservation:

Conservation comes when you're done:

First Annual Downtown Durham Conference -- March 31 at Duke

This will probably be a fine conference (see below for details from the Duke Real Estate Club), but I hope that whoever did the posters isn't hoping for a job with Greenfire.  See alternate spelling of "Lemanski", highlighted above.*

March 31, 2008 -- 1st Annual Downtown Durham Conference -- http://www.DurhamConference.com

The purpose of the Downtown Durham Conference is to foster awareness of the revitalization of downtown Durham. The conference will feature a panel of city leaders, Duke University officials, and real estate developers involved with downtown Durham. The panel discussion will focus on the collaboration of the city, developers, and Duke to rebuild downtown.

The panel will include: 

• Bill Kalkohf, President of Downtown Durham Inc.
• Michael Lemanski, Managing Partner of Greenfire Development
• Andy Rothschild, President of Scientific Properties
• Patrick Baker, Durham City Manager
• Mike Woodard, Durham City Councilman
• Scott Selig, Associate Vice President of Capital Assets at Duke
• Dr. Phail Wynn, Vice President of Durham and Regional Affairs at Duke

The conference will consist of a panel discussion from 7-9 PM followed by a reception. The event will be located at the Love Auditorium, Duke University West Campus. Free parking will be available at the Bryan Center Parking Lot.

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*Hooray that they fixed it on the website.  If these folks learn anything in B-school, it's that you need to double-check important documents before they go out...  I won't ask why they put a poster with tear-off strips inside the window of a locked office. 

Thinking back, I can't remember the last time I made a poster with tear-off strips.  What was I selling?  What was I trying to get someone to do?  I'll be happy to never do another.  It's too easy to make mistakes that earn heckling :-)

"Adopt Me, Please"

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you're probably a regular reader of the Independent Weekly.  And if you read the Indy, I suspect you've seen the great pet adoption ads run by the Independent Animal Rescue.  Here's a current ad for "Annie" from IAR's website:

Annie is a playful girl who loves affection. She enjoys going for runs with her foster parents, chasing her ball, chewing on a bone, and snuggling with humans. Her favorite part of the day is her afternoon ride in the car where she sits politely in the back seat and enjoys the view. She is truly a pack animal and wants to be surrounded by loving humans, as well as other dogs, as much as possible. She loves to curl up for a nap with the pugs in her foster home. Her house training is coming along very well. To prevent accidents, Annie is crated when her foster parents are not at home. Annie wants to become a member of a family that has lots of love and attention to give her.

Annie was found by a volunteer, and though it appears she has been a street girl most of her life, she came right to volunteers with no signs of fear or aggression. She was hungry, tired, and eaten up by fleas, but immediately rolled on her back, wanting her belly scratched and giving lots of kisses. This special girl was even rated a "Gold Star Puppy" by our IAR trainer for her wonderful temperament.

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you're probably not a regular reader of The Triangle Tribune, "The Triangle's Choice for the Black Voice".  But if you saw last week's issue of The Triangle Tribune, you might have seen this adoption ad from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services:

Question (with no judgment implied): why doesn't the NC DHHS place adoption ads like this in the Independent Weekly?  According to the AdoptUSKids website sponsored by DHHS, there are 192 active "cases" of kids awaiting adoption in North Carolina.  My sense is that all of these are non-baby/toddler kids currently in foster care.

International Banking at Wachovia

When I saw this screen at the Wachovia on Hillsborough Rd. in Raleigh, I thought, "Man, NC State must have even more Chinese grad students than I thought."  Then I saw the same screen options in Durham.

Any guesses on what prompted the addition?  Is this a national thing, or have I missed the explosion of Chinese-speaking* people in the Triangle?

And in similar things, what's the most languages you've ever seen on an ATM screen?  Would love to hear comments from blog readers in New York and San Francisco.

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*did you know that Cantonese and Mandarin sound different but read the same?  Me, neither.  Oh, and I keep forgetting that I'm ~1/6th Chinese.  Maybe that's why I'm always eating at Rainbow on Main St. in Durham.

Compare Foods -- Big Latino Grocery Store

Compare Foods is an small chain of Latino-owned, low-cost grocery stores, stretching from Massachusetts to North Carolina.  The Durham store is in the old Avondale shopping center just north of I-85 (where Winn-Dixie used to be and next to where Big Lots still is, and not far from where, in a pleasant surprise, Wachovia still is.)

For better, funner details on Compare Foods, click for reviews by other local food people/bloggers:

Joe V: ("...in 3-packs.  It really seems like they should come as some multiple of 2.")

Jenny P: ("It's fantastic... I almost mean that in the supernatural sense.")

Rodney D: ("...it makes me very happy to know I'm only a few miles from a store where I can buy a whole cow's head.")

If you know of any other reviews, please let me know and I'll link to them.

Also, if you can tell me a better way to have formatted/punctuated/written the above list of links ("[click here] [example quote]", please advise.  I hate my approach.

click for Compare Foods map and info

Lucky Jesus at Los Comales Restaurant

Other writers would give this statue a descriptive name, but I'll just tell you that it's Jesus with ~$40 in bills taped to various parts of his body.  And if that isn't enough insurance for good luck and fortune, place him next to a Chinese Lucky Bamboo.

Of course, the folks at Los Comales in Durham ("Best Chargrilled Tacos in Town!") might generate some luck with their cooking, as well.  I had some cheese quesadillas and pupusas there last week and they were pretty good -- with even and crispy cornmeal tortillas/shells.  Los Comales has a very nice condiment tray with several salsas, cucumbers, pico de gallo, lime, cilantro, etc.  Prices for everything are pretty reasonable, too.  I seem to recall that they had an flat-panel television, too.

I can't recall if any of the staff speak English, but the finger-pointing method will probably do you OK if you need.  Their menu is on the wall behind the counter, with as many types of tacos filling as you'll ever ask for.

Other reviews here from the Fuqua Culinary Club and here from Judy's Book.

Los Comales
2103 N. Roxboro Rd.
Durham NC 27704
Just north of I-85, next door to the monster neon CHECKS CASHED place.

Accordion Crimes

No, we're not talking about the good book-of-the-same-title by Annie Proulx, but rather the terrible instrument abuse depicted above. 

The banner is for accordion files: "Expandable.  Contractable.  Organizable."  But the dude with the accordion... ack!  Non-accordion players might not notice that he's incorrectly pulling the bellows out and up instead of out and down.  But I think anyone could notice something strange in that (a) his left hand fingers aren't actually placed on specific buttons (one isn't even on the buttons at all) and (b) his right hand thumb is hooked beneath the keyboard.

Ack, ack, ack, ack, ack.

Speaking of which, an appropriate quote from an online accordion FAQ:

QUESTION:
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How likely am I to pick up bad habits by teaching myself.

ANSWER:
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A friend of mine's son taught himself to play concertina.  One day he
noticed that everyone else was playing theirs upside down relative to the
way he was doing it.  Needless to say, the rest of the world was not
wrong.  Please make sure that you at least know which side is
for the right hand vs. the left hand.

No Parking. I Mean It.

Saw this in Denver last week.  Reminded me of the one I saw in Noe Valley, SFO, "Don't even think about parking here."

Also seen in Denver, on cardboard held by a street beggar, "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You've heard it all before.  Please give money.  Thanks."

Anyone see the King of the Hill episode where Bobby and Joseph become cool street beggars?  I saw part of last night, but not the end.

Every now and then I want to get a begging permit and hit the streets of Durham to see what it's like and how I'd do.  Of course, I'd probably see a lot of people I know, and that would be kind of awkward.  (Like when it happened to Rick Redfern in Doonesbury.)

Hilary and I plan to go busking when the weather cools.  That should be interesting.

As for now -- no staying up late.  Sleep is inevitable.  (I have a cold.)