Why Does Obama Visit the Peak of Good Republicans Town?

One has to wonder why President Obama selected such a Republican area to visit in North Carolina when he selected Apex, NC for a private fly by.

Apex has been an enclave of Republicans every since they removed Larry Jordan from office more than twenty years ago.  Heck, Apex cannot even get a Democratic candidate for Mayor.  Instead they have two Republicans for Mayor fighting it out.  What do they fight about?  Hey, I'm more conservative than you?  I am still trying to figure out what Bryan Gossage's platform is and how it differs from Weatherly's.

It will be real interesting to see if Republican Mayor Keith Weatherly shows up for the meet and greet with President Obama in Apex.  After all it is an closed event.  Did he even get an invite?  Or will he just say he was stuck in traffic or too busy campaigning for the Defense of Marriage Amendment?

I Will Put Keith Weatherly's Picture
over here on the Right

Loudon Wainwright III Coming to American Tobacco Center this Friday, Sep 16

Grammy award artist Loudon Wainwright III comes to the American Tobacco Campus this Friday at 6:00 PM for free.  Free!  Unbelievable.  Wainwright won a Grammy by mining the work of North Carolina old time troubadour Charlie Poole with his 2009 album, High Wide and Handsome: The Charlie Poole Project.

Steve Earle says it is real hard to be good at performing solo and accompanying yourself.  “Steve Goodman was an incredible solo performer.  Loudon Wainwright III still is.” 

Wainwright’s latest work is called Songs for the New Depression.  So come this Friday I expect to hear some quirky songs from a great solo performer, a few tales about how Charlie Poole quit the textile mills of Burlington to play music, because music was a lot more fun, and how to beat the  upcoming depression by taking up ukulele.

Let’s hope for good weather at this outdoor concert on the grounds of the American Tobacco Campus.  I want to catch a great solo performer in North Carolina playing songs from North Carolina, about North Carolina. Before the next depression.

Loudon Wainwright website

http://www.lw3.com/home.php

American Tobacco Campus Concerts from WUNC

http://wunc.org/events/back-porch-music-concert-series

I Wish I Had a Vespa

It's a classic and now Vespa's are popping up everywhere, although I am not sure why. They seemed to hit the scene about 1952 when Cary Grant was cruising around Rome with Audrey Hepburn on the back of a Vespa. Not a bad gig if you can get it. I remember seeing one in Raleigh about ten years ago and thinking they might make a comeback, but that must have just been a flash in the pan.

Vespa's seemed to be all over San Francisco. The dealer is doing well there. Not so much so in Seattle and Portland.

Now with Tom Hank's new comedy Larry Crowe, the Vespa is all set for its comeback. Although with a price of about $4,000, I am not sure how successful they will really be.

What seemed so cool in Rome or San Francisco seems a bit foreign in the Triangle. If I ride a Vespa, do I need a tee-shirt that says, "No, I didn't get a DUI!?

Washington Square in San Francisco

Washington Square is a park in the North Beach area of San Francisco. It is a great place to enjoy the sites and the customs of San Francisco without feeling over ran by tourists. There are many restaurants close to the park, so on a beautiful sunny day you can just get a sandwich and hang in the park. It is ideally situated between the Italian North Beach community at the edge of China Town. The number 30 Stockton Bus (among others) runs right by the park so you can stop on the way the warf from Union Square or on the way back. Or just make Washington Square a destination.

Starting at 7:30 or so in the morning the park comes alive with the Asian population greeting the day. Then couples and individuals just lay in the grass. The evenings are beautiful for a sunset. I think there is a video waiting to be made--24 hours in Washington Square. Spend some time in Washington Square and it will become a state of mind that you can return and remember and enjoy.

Raleigh Among Good Company as One of the 40 Worse Dressed Cities in America

GQ, that fashion rag for very young men, has just listed Raleigh as one of the 40 worse dressed cities in America. We are not in the top ten, but we made the list with Portland and Seattle. Now that is great to get this cred. But it is about golf and pleats. What do you think?

http://www.gq.com/style/fashion/201107/worst-dressed-cities-america#slide=1

I really think most people playing golf in Raleigh could care what GQ thinks about their fashion. At least they did not show a guy in knickers and argyle socks. Or is that in now?

Not Sure About Seattle

Seattle is neurotic. Or at least it is on pins and needles. Trying to pinpoint what Seattle is like is like eating a bite of icing on a cake and trying to figure out what the whole cake taste like. Seattle is like Charlotte by the sea. Seems they have recruited a lot of drivers from Raleigh cause if you set at a just changed green light to long, there is a horn behind you reminding you they have places to go.

The first day in Seattle we made sure we did the tourist things for a new city we had never been. Pikes Market, Experience Music Project (EMP), the monorail, the space needle. Did I leave anything out?

We walked about five blocks from our hotel to Pikes Market. It was not what I expected. It was more of a farmers market and flea market. I am not sure what I was expecting, but we stopped at Pikes Place Chowder for ....well Chowder. Chowder for lunch was a good idea and this is really a lunch spot. It almost felt like a variation on the Southern barbeque restaurant Seattle style.

From Pikes market we walked to the monorail and took the monorail to the Space Needle. The Needle had a line, so we did EMP. After about two hours in EMP we were hungry and searching for a bar. We found the Lower Queen Anne area and Pesos Kitchen, a Mexican place with ditsy service but quite good Mexican food. We ate here because we were tired and hungry, not because it was recommended. The margaritas were good and the beer was cold even thou the waitress could not tell me the type of beer a Manley's was. Later I looked at the menu and found the name of the beer is Manley's Pale Ale. Humm...wonder if she had ever looked at the menu? If you are interested in the food (and it was much better than what was described by the wait staff) then here is the menu:

http://www.pesoskitchen.com/Website%20Dinner%20Menu%206-28-2011(3).pdf

After refreshments it was back to the Space Needle to watch the sun go down over Seattle. Then at 10:30 we had an almost private ride on the monorail back to the middle of town where we walked the five blocks back to the hotel. Our monorail driver said that downtown Seattle closes down except for the Pioneer Square area after dark. It was Friday and the streets were almost desolate.

So we ended our first day having done all the touristy things. Maybe tomorrow we will find out what Seattle is really like.

The Great Nice West

You have always heard it called the Great Northwest. I think the Great Nice"west" would be more appropriate. At least for Portland. I can't say about Seattle yet. But the whole city seems worried you might think them a cad or not nice enough. I'm sorry seems to be as common a greeting as hello. I am sorry my dog sniffed you from 3 feet away. I am sorry I almost brushed against you in a crowded elevator. I am sorry I turned my car in your general direction as you were walking across the crosswalk.

We talk about being nice in the South. But I am beginning to think that is just talk. Bless our hearts, we have so many people here that are not from the South, we use to be nice.

Portland must have an orientation class for new residents. Welcome to Portland you must learn to become nice and say I'm sorry.

We went to a free Tony Furtado concert in Willamette Park. There were prizes given for who just moved to Portland (along with who just rode their bike to across a bridge to the concert). Welcome to Portland, we have all moved here from somewhere else. So here is a present just to show you how nice we are.

I drove two days around Portland. Everyone seemed to follow the rules. If there was a line, there was no breaking, less people think you are not nice. "Are you sure it is my turn? No you go first. I'm sorry, did I get in front of you in line? Are you sure I am next?" Oh you are on a bicycle, you get priority because you are kind to the environment and making smaller carbon footprint than me, so you get priority.

I think Portland worries about becoming Seattle. There is that sister-brother thing similar to Raleigh and Charlotte. (Well, if we have rules about everything, we will be just like Seattle. No we can't let that happen)!

This area feels like a mash up of North Carolina, just without the heat and humidity. Portland is like Asheville, Greensboro, Durham, Raleigh, Winston-Salem (for the Yadkin Wine Region) & Wilmington mashed together with just a sprinkling of Charlotte for professional sports teams and glass office buildings. Imagine living in a North Carolina town with the mountains just 35 minutes away. Highway 30 through the Columbia River Gorge reminded us of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Columbia River reminded us of the beach around Wilmington except with Asheville mountain bikers hanging out and windsurfing. The town of Hood River seemed like Boone and Blowing Rock. We had travel so far to find a different type of North Carolina. Or North Carolina is just like Portland, only spread out over five hours and seven cities.

Portland is very reasonably priced. You can afford to live and eat here. Even drink a little local wine. And the restaurant scene is very vibrant much like Durham. The Willamette wine area has about 20 years more time to have developed over North Carolina, but we see what North Carolina's wine area can become. More like Willamette, less like Napa!

So when we return to North Carolina and eat at a great restaurant in Durham, I will be reminded of Portland. And I pledge to be nicer. Especially to those Yankee car drivers in the Triangle who hate bicyclist. Bless their hearts.