NCBlogs

North Carolina special program links can be found at the left under "DEPARTMENT LINKS". These links will take you to active special programs and individual points of contacts for those programs and forms the programs use (if available)

Gay website continues stealing content. New updates. http://www.interstateq.com/archives/3139/ # I hate trying to work around personal and organizational egos. Too bad mine’s one of the egos to be worked around. # @bgmurph very true… hey… whats up with this summons thing lol ? in reply to bgmurph # @leland307 i think you get something [...]

Gay website continues stealing content. New updates. http://www.interstateq.com/archives/3139/ # I hate trying to work around personal and organizational egos. Too bad mine’s one of the egos to be worked around. # @bgmurph very true… hey… whats up with this summons thing lol ? in reply to bgmurph # @leland307 i think you get something [...]

I finally got around to downloading Google Chrome and I'm regretting that I didn't do it sooner.  This thing is very fast and after using it for just a few hours I'm ready to make it my default browser, with Firefox second and IE as "use only if desperate."  I'd put off downloading it until I read an article in an old issue of Wired that was essentially a behind-the-scenes account of how Google got into the browser business. Two things in the article prompted me to act: the fact that they hired a guy specifically to make Chrome faster than the other browsers and that they designed it so that if one tab froze the rest of the tabs would still work.  That's been my biggest frustration with Firefox:  when I overload one tab the rest of the tabs crash with it.  I can't tell you how much online work I've lost due to that.

For what it's worth, I like the idea of Dr. Sunjay Gupta as Surgeon General, the current balloon being floated by the incoming Obama administration.

PorchScapes
An Artist Looks at Beaufort

Mary Warshaw
________________________________________

Porches are the singular defining feature of Beaufort’s relic houses and no two are alike.

To this town of porches came an artist with a keen eye and curious mind who took a long, lingering look at each and every old house and began to paint their porches while seeking stories about prior occupants.

Soon all those who came before came back to life, first in her mind, and now in PorchScapes.

The painter became an historian and author of this most unusual book that is first a work of art and last a valuable resource for those fascinated by a little seaport older than America.

And isn’t that all of us?

— Rick Carroll

This sounds fun. Press release here:

The First Annual National Truffle Fest, sponsored by the National Truffle Grower’s Association (www.TruffleGrowers.com) will be held in Asheville, North Carolina March 5th – 8th, 2009. The three-day fest features fresh truffles, fresh talent, and fabulous flavors for true truffle aficionados and those epicurious folks intrigued by the rare mushroom. Detailed information and registration information is available at www.NationalTruffleFest.com.

The National Truffle Fest will feature prolific truffle growers in North America and beyond, including Jose Barbarín, General Manager, Arotz, Soria, Spain, the largest truffle orchard in the world with 350,00 truffle trees; Rosario Safina, author and founder of da Rosario Truffle Products; Tom Michaels, PhD, Tennessee Truffles, Tim Terry, Truffles Australis speaking on the Australian truffle industry and market, Franklin Garland, President, Garland Truffles, Inc. (attached photo shows Franklin with a truffle found in on December 10, 2008 in NC), Robin Weant, founder, Patria Properties, specializing in real estate for vineyards and truffle orchards, Jack Ponticelli, CEO and co-founder, Piedmont Valley Truffles, largest orchard in North Carolina.

Culinary masters will intrigue truffle aficionados and the epicurean folks with cooking demonstrations, fine Winemaker Dinners, the Truffle Cook-Off, and will culminate in a rare 7 course meal prepared by 7 chefs from around the world including Todd Gray, chef/owner of Washington D.C.’s Equinox Restaurant, Walter Royal, Iron Chef winner, one of 50 master chefs in the United States, one of Top Five Chefs in the Southeast, and executive chef of the Angus Barn in Raleigh, N.C; Jim Anile, Owner and Executive Chef, Revolution Restaurant and James Beard winner; Carlos Cordon, owner Los Ranchos (written up in the Miami Herald as the best steak house in Central America), Phillip Ponticelli, chef de cuisine, Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa and many more.

Held amid the tranquility of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Asheville is ready to show us they know all about fine wine and dining. Guests can view the art exhibition entitled “The Interpretation of the Truffle” where amateur celebrity and professional artists compete for top prize.

Guests are offered cooking demonstrations, tasting dinners, competitive cook-offs, truffle-dog hunting, and sampling of the very best truffles North America has to offer. Regional bands will round out the entertainment, creating the excitement and energy that food and wine enthusiasts enjoy.

Inclusive tickets to the National Truffle Fest start at $500 before January 31, 2009 and $750 thereafter. To register, call 919-740-3008 or visit www.NationalTruffleFest.com.

The Wilmington Star News notes that Asheville's annual street party, Bele, Chere, made the cut of the 101 best festivals in the USA, according to a new book:

In case you missed the Friday (Jan. 2) edition of USA Today, the newspaper ran a big, half-page feature about a new book, "Party Across America: 101 of the Greatest Festivals, Sporting Events and Celebrations in the U.S." (Adams Media, $12.95 paperback).

...

"Party Across America" is a travel guide, citing such events as the Indianapolis 500, the running of the Preakness and the Gasparilla Pirate Festival in Tampa, Fla., as well as some lesser known events such as Montana's Testicle Festival (for aficionados of "mountain oysters"), the Bonnaroo outdoor music festival in Manchester, Tenn., and the Oktoberfest in Cincinnati. (Among other North Carolina events to make the cut was the annual Belle Chere Festival up in Asheville.)

Press release here:

TAMPA, Fla., Jan. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Walter Industries, Inc. (NYSE: WLT) announced today the closure of its Jim Walter Homes subsidiary. Jim Walter Homes built more than 350,000 homes during its history, but has not been profitable in several years. The Company said it expects to record a pre-tax charge of approximately $8 - $10 million in the fourth quarter 2008 related to the closure of the business.

"The story of Jim Walter Homes began as World War II ended and soldiers came home to pursue the American Dream. Regrettably, it ends at a time when the fundamentals of the homebuilding industry have deteriorated in ways never seen before," said Walter Industries Chairman Michael T. Tokarz.

Tampa entrepreneur Jim Walter founded Jim Walter Homes in November 1946, when he used $395 in savings to buy and sell his first "shell" home, for a profit of $300. As a result of the success of Jim Walter Homes, Jim Walter was able to build a Fortune 500 conglomerate with businesses as diverse as mortgage financing, coal mining and ductile iron pipe manufacturing. The Company completed its spin off of Mueller Water Products, which encompassed its interest in the ductile iron pipe and water products businesses, in December 2006. Mueller Water Products continues to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange today.

For the last several years the Company has pursued a strategy to create shareholder value by concentrating on its core natural resources and energy-related businesses. The Company expects to complete this strategy when the planned spin off of the Company's Financing business is completed in early 2009.

"Once we complete the separation of our Financing business, Walter Industries will be re-positioned as a "pure play" natural resources and energy company," Tokarz said. "The businesses that comprised Walter Industries when we undertook this important strategy will soon exist independently as three publicly traded companies and, in the process, we will have created significant value for our shareholders."

Despite the efforts of Jim Walter Homes' management and employees, including a major restructuring in 2008 that closed nearly half of the Jim Walter Homes' sales centers, the business has remained challenged. Efforts to sell the business were unsuccessful in the face of the unprecedented conditions in the housing industry and tightness in the credit markets.

Approximately 230 people will be affected by the closure, including approximately 45 employees of the Jim Walter Homebuilding Group's headquarters in Tampa.

 

All spliced together (very well edited) into two minutes.  You'll like it, trust me:

At least the log in problem isn't. I am able to post today but haven't been able to in several days. So what important thing do I need to say while I can? (...)

Mountain Xpress has the story. Suffice it to say that it's not a surprise. 

A little birdy tells me that James Franco is at Warren Wilson College this week taking the college's famed master's writing course. Coolness. Thanks, little birdy!

The Slammer, a mug-shot paper from Raleigh, draws some national attention. To devoted readers, The Slammer and similar publications – like Cellmates in Florida’s Tampa Bay area and Jail in Orlando – perform a valuable public service, putting the gritty...

You probably had a better day than this guy.

“Oh, no! That’s what our newsletter looks like to a third of the people on our mailing list?!?” Don’t be her. Preview your e-newsletter in different email programs.

Those new to the world of e-newsletter publishing are often surprised to learn that their email newsletters can look quite different to someone who is using Outlook versus someone using  Gmail or Thunderbird, not to mention what it looks like on a smartphone. That’s because email programs (called email clients) process HTML in different ways.

The only way to be sure that your email newsletter template is working well in all the major clients is to actually view it in all of the different programs.

While some email newsletter service providers make this easier than others, it’s not a standard service. But two companies do offer testing programs that will deliver screen shots of your newsletter in various email programs at reasonable prices, even if you don’t use them to send out your newsletter: Mail Chimp’s Inbox Inspector, powered by ReturnPath, (sign up for a free account, then buy three tests for $29) and Campaign Monitor’s Design and Spam Test (sign up for a free account, then pay $5 per test).

It’s well worth paying for the test services every now and then, especially when you make changes to your layout.

If you simply can’t pay, you can do it yourself, but the hassle factor is high. Start by getting free accounts at services like Gmail and Yahoo and installing multiple email programs on your computer (e.g. Outlook, Thunderbird). Beg friends with various ISPs (e.g. AOL, Roadrunner, Comcast) to do screen captures for you. Then run your own tests.

The goal isn’t necessarily to make your newsletter look exactly the same in every program. It’s to make sure that your newsletter is readable in every program and that there aren’t any wacky design shifts that are so distracting that the reader instantly hits delete.

I tweaked my Nonprofit Marketing Tips newsletter this week (go here to sign up, in the left sidebar, under the blue bar) and ran it through both services this morning. Here’s what I found.

MailChimp’s Inbox Inspector

To Run the Test: Set up a free account. Go to Create a Campaign > Inbox Inspector Test.  You’ll copy and paste your HTML, and add some other campaign details. Then you’ll pay $29 for 3 tests (nonprofits may get a better deal - I don’t know.). Within one minute, the results started to come in, but they changed after a few minutes, so I’d give it at least 15 minutes before even looking at it.

Campaign Monitor’s Design and Spam Test

To Run the Test: Set up a free account. This email service specializes in serving designers who manage e-newsletters for multiple clients. Just pretend you are your own client. Click on the client name, then create a new campaign (you have to have the campaign ready to go before clicking on the “Run a Design and Spam Test” button). Instead of cutting and pasting your HTML, you have to upload the HTML file. When I got to the section about the mailing list, I stopped and clicked on Design and Spam Testing, and it asked for a $5 payment. Speed was about the same - some results quickly, but not worth looking at until about 15 minutes later.

If you are using another email newsletter provider rather than creating your own HTML, simply login to your account, open a newsletter, go the HTML tab and copy the code. Paste it into a plain text program like Notepad. Then you can copy/paste into these services.

The Results and Pros/Cons of Each System

Plain Text Versions: Both systems convert your HTML to plain text versions for you, although Campaign Monitor’s looked much cleaner than MailChimp’s. Campaign Monitor also showed me the recommended line length on the plain text message, which is nice, so you can add hard-returns if you want.

Spam Filter: My newsletter passed all of the Spam Filter tests in both systems,  although there were some non-lethal warnings. For example, apparently the McAfee Security Center spam filter considers these words somewhat spammish: source, way, focus, print, pass, accounts, really, others. It would be crazy to worry about such common words, so I’m not going to. Campaign Monitor said McAfee identified 25 words like this as warnings, where MailChimp said McAfee found 30 words. I guess they must be using different versions of McAfee in their testing.

MailChimp tested against eight different spam filters. Campaign Monitor tested against the same ones, plus the Norton 2008 spam filter, but after several hours, the Norton results aren’t available, so that’s a wash.

Content Assessment

MailChimp analyzes your HTML for you and suggests code fixes. I ran the “clean up HMTL” tool in Dreamweaver before running the tests, but MailChimp still found a few code errors. Fortunately nothing serious — just leaving the # sign off of some of the color codes. My heart did skip a beat when it said it found 47 content errors, however. Turns out they were all spelling errors, which weren’t really mistakes (it didn’t like my name, the way I hyphenated All-Acess Pass, etc.). Campaign Monitor doesn’t offer this service.

Email Client Screen Shots

This is what I really cared about.

MailChimp’s Inbox Inspector

Campaign Monitor’s Design and Spam Test

After about an hour, only half of the screen shots were back in both services, but by that point, they both produced some of the biggies, like Outlook, Gmail, Comcast, and AOL. I had simplified my design quite a bit, although I still use a table with two columns, so I wanted to make sure the text wasn’t flowing or overlapping in any strange ways. Fortunately, everything looked reasonably good across the various platforms, although neither one was able to come up with a screen shot from Yahoo! Mail today.

The screenshots did remind me to set all image borders to zero so a blue box doesn’t appear around them when a link is attached. The blue blox showed up in AOL and Comcast, but not Gmail and Earthlink. I’d rather not have it anywhere, so it’s worth adding the border setting in.

Overall, I like Campaign Monitor’s screen shots better. They let you toggle images on and off when those email clients offer that option to readers, so you get a clear picture of exactly what people are seeing. MailChimp lets you see the same thing, but in a less convenient way - you have to open the preview of images on and the preview of images off. Campaign Monitor also groups the screen shots by web-based email clients, desktop email clients, and mobile clients, which I found much easier to scan, where MailChimp groups them all together.  MailChimp does show several clients used in Europe, if that matters to you, that Campaign Monitor doesn’t.

What’s Missing

It would be really nice if these services included screen shots of what your email looks like in different web-based email programs in different web browsers. That’s where you can see some real differences.

Look at the these three screen captures of my newsletter in my Gmail inbox viewed in Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Chrome. Though I prefer Firefox as a user, my newsletter looks the worst in this browser. The text at the top is wrapping oddly so that my name and organization are below the logo instead of beside it like in the others. Firefox and Chrome both remove padding within the table, so the columns butt up against each other, where Explorer keeps the nice white space. Chrome doesn’t include the ALT text on the images in the sidebar, so those are just blank boxes, while the others give you some of the text.

None of these differences are earth-shattering for this particular newsletter, but they could make a real difference depending on your layout and how important your pictures are.

In Mozilla Firefox 3.0.5

In Windows Internet Explorer 7

In Google Chrome 1.0.154.36

My Bottom-Line Recommendation

I prefer Campaign Monitor’s service, and it’s the more affordable option too (always a nice result!). If you really want that extra code check or send lots of email to Europe, then I’d take another look at MailChimp. In addition, be sure to preview the HTML file in different web browsers to make sure there aren’t any differences you can’t tolerate. If you pasted your code into Notepad, just open the browser and go to File, then Open to view your HTML - it doesn’t need to be online to be previewed.

P.S. Get more email newsletter tips during tomorrow’s webinar on E-Newsletter Essentials (1/7/09).

Affordable Nonprofit Marketing Training for Your Staff, Volunteers, and Board. The Nonprofit Marketing Guide Webinar Series gives you the real-world, practical tips you need at a price you can afford. Review the Upcoming Schedule Now.

Tim Rickard is interviewed on the Comic Riffs blog at The Washington Post. Tim is one of our staff artists, along with doing The Joke's on You and a weekly editorial cartoon. But he's interviewed about his job as creator of Brewster Rockit. The interviewer describes Tim. He is laid-back and witty, delivering anecdotes with a warm Southern drawl. He is unassuming, never stooping to trumpet his MENSA-tested mind. And he wields the self-deprecating, occasionally dark humor of someone whose day job -- as a graphic artist -- depends on the health of the groaning newspaper industry. The interview is primarily about cartooning, of course, and Tim's current series about the news business. Tim's most telling quote: Pam is an interesting character. More so than any other I've created for "Brewster," she's developed her own personality independent from me. I haven't directed her development, I've followed it. Her affection for Brewster despite the fact he drives her crazy, her short fuse and explosive temper, and lately her surprising shallow materialistic streak. Got to disagree with you on that one, Tim. You and Pam sound like twins to me. (I kid because I love.) In any case, so that Tim doesn't get too big of a head, he should know that I get almost as many requests to cancel Brewster Rockit as I get to bring back Mark Trail.

I noticed that construction had lagged, but apparently now it's halted altogether. I guess the Winston-Salem Theatre Alliance has abandoned this glorious project. For Lease, Retail/Office: Or not? WSTA is still advertising upcoming performances there. previously

Here's the press release:

Website Insight - A PaleoSun Event PaleoSun is proud to present a social event that gives you free access to professional answers about your Website, Good Design and Internet Marketing.

Satisfy your curiosity about the web in a casual social environment. This event includes food, music and door prizes.

-Learn what's involved in creating a website

-Learn the benefits of a well designed website and well written code

-Get advice on improving your current website

-Get tips for marketing your current website

-Ask the questions you've never had the opportunity to ask about your website and the web design process

-We look forward to meeting you!

Date & Time: Friday January 23 - 5:00 PM Add to Calendar Location: Park Place Building 70 Woodfin, Pl Suite 312 Asheville, North Carolina

PaleoSun offices are in the Park Place Building at the corner of Charlotte Street and the 240E on-ramp.

Visit our website for a Google Map and printable directions: http://paleosun.com/contact.php

It’s said Obama’s reached out to CNN journalist and neurosurgeon Sanjay Gupta for the Surgeon General position. Does this mean Eric Holder’s getting the boot and Benjamin Matlock is getting the AG spot?

Spent much of the afternoon on the phone with tech support in an ultimately successful effort to connect to our VPN. Next I have to learn the CMS. It's telling that I've been on staff for a decade but never...

Local showcase at the Orange Peel in Asheville feat. Tennessee Hollow, The Humbuckers and Woody Pines.

Devon is a good friend of mine. He’s an exotic dancer in and around the Carolinas and I’ve known him for a while. He’s got a hell of a lot more balls than I do (no pun intended); I don’t think I could ever take my clothes off in public. He does it like it’s [...]

With all the turmoil in today's credit markets I was wondering if there's going to be a delay in the development of Clemmons Town Center, the new mall that's planned for the area between Lewisville-Clemmons Road, Harper Road, Peacehaven Road and I-40 in Clemmons.  I don't have an answer to that question, but when I searched the name of the developer, Hill Partners, Inc. of Charlotte, I found a link to an article in a trade magazine called Shopping Center Business.  The article, which appeared in November, 2008, says that Hill Partners expects to open the project in late 2010 and that they are working with Novant on a master plan since the land that Novant purchased for its Clemmons hospital is adjacent to the mall property.

There is a challenging article this month in Touchstone written by Stephen Baskerville, an Associate Professor at Patrick Henry College.  He discusses the societal wreckage and injustice created by no-fault, unilateral divorce.

Among his provocative points-- that it paved the way for greater advocacy and acceptance of gay marriage and gay adoption; that it leads to increased spousal and child abuse even though the converse is claimed; that accusations of abuse and domestic violence do not really need to be proved in many jurisdictions; that the divorce is enforced through overreaching governmental power, and indeed, its existence increases governmental power; that divorce leads to governmental agencies trafficking in children for foster care and adoption; that the system sometimes creates economic incentives for women to seek divorce, and for state governments to perpetuate it; that the political culture will not touch the issue; that various industries and professions profit from divorce; and that the marginalization of fathers often proceeds from it in various ways.

He presents the tragic statistic that 80% of divorces are unilateral.

And Baskerville outlines the consequences:

Family breakdown touches virtually every family and every American. It is not only the major source of social instability in the Western world today but also seriously threatens civic freedom and constitutional government.

G. K. Chesterton once observed that the family serves as the principal check on government power, and he suggested that someday the family and the state would confront one another. That day has arrived.

Chesterton was writing about divorce, and despite extensive public attention to almost every other threat to the family, divorce remains the most direct and serious. Michael McManus of Marriage Savers writes that “divorce is a far more grievous blow to marriage than today’s challenge by gays."

Josh Howard, a native of Winston-Salem and former player for Winston-Salem's very own Wake Forest University, got a front page going-over in the Greensboro News & Record because his foundation is the name sponsor of a scholastic basketball tournament being held in the Greensboro Coliseum.  Essentially the article points out that Howard's been in some trouble of late and points out that due to his recent behavior it may not be the best idea to have his name attached to the tournament for high school players.  

{summary}I’ve been having some crazy nightmares lately.  Most of them have been morbid and jolt me from sleep.  Last night, though, I dreamt that my name wasn’t on some list to take a test so therefore I couldn’t take it and couldn’t qualify for whatever it was the exam was testing for. I think that dream freaked me out just as much as my horror movie dreams.

Is this a sign from God that I am supposed to become a bounty hunter? Very possibly so.

1. Whistlestop Toy Station is having a toy sale right now, with savings of 25-40% on EVERYTHING. They also wrap free, so this is a great time to stock up on birthday party gifts. 2. Norman Stockton's Fall/Winter Clearance Sale starts today, with 30-75% off select items. I have heard some amazing tie deals, especially. Whistlestop Toy Station Norman Stockton

Here's the announcement:

Join us this Friday, January 9 for our Annual Twelfth Night Potluck Party at the Amphitheatre. The fun begins at 7:30 pm. Please bring a dish to share and your beverage of choice.

ALSO, join us Saturday, January 10 at MIDNIGHT at the Carolina Cinemas on Hendersonville Rd for the opening night celebration of the Rocky Horror Picture Show (Hello, Lips!) Come early and in costume if you'd like to be a part of the official House Cast, which we're forming for a monthly showing of this classic (every 2nd Saturday). Saturday night will be an (unoffical) audition for the House Cast, so spread the word, tell all your friends...I see you shiver with antici.............pation!

The shake-out continues: Downtown Asheville restaurant Martha Nell's has shut down, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times. The restaurant wasn't making enough money to stay open and is now for sale.

It's a sad closure. The site became Martha Nell's last fall, replacing a downtown landmark restaurant in Cafe on the Square. I have many fond remembrances of Cafe on the Square and its former owners.

It was probably a combination of things that killed the restaurant: the down economy; the un-ending construction at Pack Square Park; a dumb name. 

I think we'll continue to see a shake-out on the Asheville restaurant scene. North Star Diner in Weaverville recently closed, and I'm getting word that there are a few more restaurants around town tottering on the precipice of disaster. What are you hearing?

The Christian Science Monitor writes about The Slammer, a Raleigh-based publication that....well, the SCM describes it this way: If "Jerry Springer" came in newsprint, The Slammer could be it -- a garish compilation of the week's local crimes and their alleged perpetrators. The men and women, with their dour mugs, bloodied noses, and booze-induced grins, have been arrested for everything from skipping a court date to robbing a food mart. It is, in essence, the local police blotter writ large. I've seen it. That describes it well. Then the story adds: Critics, on the other hand, see the papers as sensational, tawdry, and ethically dubious -- a modern form of the "crime rags" that flourished in the heyday of early 20th-century yellow journalism. "This is a sad commentary on the state of American journalism," says Bob Steele, a journalism ethics expert at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla. Which brings me to the always-popular Guilford's Most Wanted, which we publish every Monday. That feature, in which we publish mini-profiles and photos of two people on the lam, is coming up on its one-year anniversary next month. So far, 71 people featured have been arrested.

They're going to get "hip":

Battlestar Galactica season 4.0 is now out on DVD. Frack-yes!

Watch the new webisodes here.

It seems that one of the largest rumor sites has been hacked during the keynote. At 9:24AMPST, the site gets hit with a "STEVE JOBS HAS DIED." Then a string of profanity and spam links and other such nonsense for a good fifteen or twenty minutes before the site was taken down.

The screenshot was provided by John Brown, whom was watching it happen in real-time and happened to get a snap before the site went down.

I haven't a clue what type of fungus is growing on this dead tree, but I discovered it while Annie and I were out for a hike on our mountain yesterday. I brought my super wide angle lens and really wished I had a macro with me to help me explore what I consider to be the extraordinary patterns of the parasitic growth. Annie doesn't care if I stop to take photos. She's comfortable enough to trot off into the woods and go say, 110 yards, following her nose on to the next great interesting smell. I did have a scary moment though when Annie and I discovered a huge outcrop covered in ice. Annie found the top by accident wondering through a nearby rhodo thicket. I wasn't sure where she was and called for her. Next thing I know, Annie was 20 feet above me, standing on a sheet of ice, very close to tumbling over the edge. I ran parallel to the rock face and called her to follow. And she did. Good dog.

Why must the transition from work to holiday and back to work be so difficult? It feels like I hit a wall at 70 m.p.h. then reversed and hit another wall going just as fast. I have whiplash. That, and my youngest daughter decided she needed to carry on in the quest of finding her fortune at her college home and bolted back with our check for her college tuition in hand. Yesterday and today my husband and I have been moping about feeling poor and lonely, hunting the house for purpose. We found it in a leaky bathtub and other general house maintenance duties.

All better now:)

So like many people at this time of the year, I feel compelled to compile my list of favorite things and moments for 2008. Because I want to feel positive about things, I will forgo the ‘worst of’ lists.

Best Film of the Year
This one is easy to call. Dark Knight proved to be the film every Batman fan has ever wanted to see. The first Christopher Nolan film proved adept in setting up the character and the myth but it took the genius of Heath Ledger inspired take on the Joker to make a good film a great one. He pretty obliterated any lingering memories of Jack Nicholson’s Joker from the Tim Burton version in 1989. The film was epic not just in look and scale but in the characters, giving us a look at a true battle of good versus evil. Emotionally poignant in many ways that no superhero film has ever accomplished to date. A standard has been set which I feel will be difficult to surpass but here’s hoping that it will be in two years time.

As for other films this year, I must admit that every time Pixar comes out with a new film, it manages to move the state of the art just a bit further ahead. Comparing the animation in Wall-E with an earlier film like A Bug’s Life, you can see the tremendous stride in technique. Of course, advancements in computer technology and software helped too. But Pixar film are more than just visual feats; compelling stories are at the heart of their films and Wall-E is no different. A great little love story between two robots that seems oh so human.

Other films gained my attention this year as well. Ironman was a great start to the summer movie season but I think Robert Downey’s best role was in Tropic Thunder, the best comedy of the year. Quantum of Solace was a superb film, among the very best in the Bond series.

Favorite New Artist of the Year
As always with me, I tend to look for new artists when listening to music. I have been especially proactive this year in getting new music, much of it downloaded from iTunes and other web sources. New sounds whether it be indie, jazz or pop always interest me more than long established artists. Trying to stay hip at 40 I guess. Of course, what is new to me, is probably old hat to some one else.

One artist I have been listening to for a good part of the year is Cassettes Won’t Listen. Great pop sound as exemplified by songs like Paper Float and Freeze and Explode. Another band I discovered but in reality have been around for quite a few years is The Faint who have some of the more danceable sounds out there with tracks like Call Call and Last Danse. Actually, many of the songs I like this year have a very upbeat sound to it like Janelle Monae’s Violet Stars Happy Hunting.

As always, I find many of my songs via Apple commercials like Bruises by Chairlift used in the new Nano commercial. Some one over at Apple HQ knows how to pick those songs.

Instrumentals proved to be a strong favorite with me as they do every year. One track I like Carly Commando’s Everyday was one that had a unique discovery for me. Watching a Simpson’s episode where Homer’s life flashed back at him. The music was intriguing to me, much in the spirit of Philip Glass for its minimalist sound. Researching the music, brought me to the known youtube hit video, Everyday which the music was the soundtrack. Been on heavy rotation ever since. Similarly, I picked up the music Praan because it was the soundtrack to the latest edition of the Where the Hell is Matt video.

Favorite Sports Moment
This past year was an Olympic year and even though Canada is not the power in those Olympics as it is in the Winter Games, there were some outstanding moments for the team which got off to a slow start as usual. Carol Hyuh’s gold in women’s wrestling was a surprise and who can not be inspired by Eric Lamaze’s comeback to win the gold in the individual jumping final in the equestrian event. But the highlight for me was not a gold performance but a silver one by Simon Whitfield in the Men’s triathlon. Trailing for most of the race but never far behind the leaders, his careful strategy to bid his time on making his moment nearly paid off as he surged from sixth place to a momentarily first as he neared the finish line but has passed by a similarly surging German.

But the finest sports moment was the epic tennis match between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the Wimbleton single men’s match. I am a casual viewer of tennis and on that Sunday morning, it just started off as just background noise as I read my Sunday paper. But as the game progressed, interrupted as it did by the frequent showers and comeback of Federer from two sets down, it made for high drama as the night started to close in on the final game that went to a tiebreaker. Perhaps the greatest tennis match ever played.

Favorite election campaign not involving Obama
The senate campaign between Elizabeth Dole and Kay Hagen was one for the books. Hagan was not given much chance but a inspired set of ads that defined Dole as being out of touch with her native state gave her a leg up on Dole who ran a terrible campaign culminating in an add that attacked Hagan’s faith.

Favorite New Restaurant of the Year
In a turbulent year, we tend to stay with things that give us comfort and so, we avoided trying new places to eat, staying with places we know and trust. Still, we did get out and try a few new places. The most noteworthy was La Botana, a place that has received popular reviews for its take on Mexican cuisine. The reviews were well placed. Superb cooking that reveals that Mexican food can extend beyond the tried and true staples of tortillas, cheese and beans.

Favorite Television Show of the Year
For sheer entertainment value for me this year, nothing beat the political coverage of the presidential primaries and then the election itself. Tuesday nights for the first half of the year was Must See TV as I watched the returns come in from the various state primaries and caucuses and then listened intently to the various commentators on what it all means. Flipping back and forth between MSNBC and CNN was something I got use in doing. Sometimes, I can not believe that it is all over.

Similarily, Saturday Night Live, made a statement that it was still relevant by its take on this year’s political scene with no other things coming as close as Tina Fey’s take on Sarah Palin. It was a wicked portrayal that define who Palin was before the American public could make up their own opinions of who she was.

Favorite New Dish
Since I essentially gave the cooking duties for the family, I have not much opportunity to try new dishes. But one meal I have created has become a new family favorite: cornflake chicken, cut up chicken coated in crushed corn flakes as an alternative to fried chicken, with a farfalle pasta salad loaded with fresh vegetables and prepared with pesto sauce. Great eating that is a bit healthier than the alternatives.

Best Economic News
In a dismal year, economically, one hopeful sign is that the price of gasoline collapsed at the year of the year. With prices going up for everything, due to no small part the rapid rise of gas prices in the first half of the year, with the price of gas at a level not seen in five years, consumers need a small break just to get them through the first part of the year. Hopefully with cheaper gas and oil prices, other items will also go down in price soon especially food prices.

Best New Discovery for the Family
The Winston-Salem Christmas Parade. First time ever for all of us and especially enjoyed by Madeleine.

So it ends with this list, the best of 2008 for me and my family. Hopefully 2009 will be a better year, one with hope, peace and prosperity.

Considering that hurricane season will be upon us in a few months and probably will be another bad year again and that the past year had severe tornadoes, fires, and floods in all parts of the United States, all of that shows that no one is safe from disaster. So it is probably a good time to start consider to put together a survival package for the family when disaster strikes. Even here in Winston-Salem, we are not immune. An ice storm that can knock out power to large areas for days on end like it did back in the winter of 2002-2003 is just as traumatic as being hit by a hurricane.

Survival preparation does not need to be like preparing for a nuclear war. Building bunkers and setting up a food stash for a year is a bit extreme. But there is a need to take care of yourself while local authorities and utility companies can re-establish livable conditions once again.

The rule of thumb for emergency situations is to have a three day supply of items on hand to address any need. These items include:

• Water , one gallon of water per person per day, for drinking and sanitation
• Food , at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food
  • Ready-to-eat canned meats, fruits and vegetables
  • Protein or fruit bars
  • Dry cereal or granola
  • Peanut butter
  • Dried fruit
  • Nuts
  • Crackers
  • Canned juices
  • Non-perishable pasteurized milk
  • High energy foods
  • Vitamins
  • Food for infants
  • Comfort/stress foods
• Battery-powered radio and extra batteries
• Flashlight and extra batteries
• First Aid kit
• Whistle to signal for help
• Dust mask or cotton t-shirt, to help filter the air
• Moist towelettes for sanitation
• Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities
• Can opener for food (if kit contains canned food)
• Plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place
• Unique family needs , such as daily prescription medications, infant formula or diapers, and important family documents
• Garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation

Such a kit can be put together for about $50-70 which is affordable for most people.

- Source: Ready.gov

It is also important to collect all important documents that provide identification, insurance information, and bank and other financial documents.

Payment options are bit more vague. As an economy highly dependent on plastic (credit and debit cards), you can never be certain to have access to an ATM or even to make a transaction at a hotel or store. Cash is still king in these situations with $500-1000 being the minimum. You will be surprised how quickly money will go when staying at a hotel waiting for the storm to blow over.

As well, such a kit should be portable enough to take on extended trips or vacations. When you are stuck on the coast with a hurricane bearing down on you, all you might have is what you brought with you.

The final item can not be put into a kit but it should be a standard item for any emergency plan. If a family or group becomes separated, have someone not in the immediate area designated as a contact person so that information and messages can be left with. For example, here in North Carolina we would pick Andrea’s sister as a contact person rather than someone in Winston-Salem who may be experiencing the same calamity as we are.

A call for hearings: "The new Congress has a chance to lead the nation, step by step, through all the machinations that led to the present debacle and to shape wise legislation to prevent a recurrence."

It came up in a conversation I had the other day: the lady who sued McDonald's because her coffee was too hot.  It's always the example tossed out by people whenever there is a discussion about frivilous lawsuits.

Jon Lowder and I met at Casanova's today for more kaffeeklatsching. They have this AMAZING table there with this sort of embedded (but waterproof) Scrabble board. I swooned ever so slightly. Good coffee. I resisted the fudge. Casanova's Coffees and Fudge

I feel for these people.

Some discussion here on the merits of the Josh Howard story. No, "merits" isn't correct word. No question it's worth reporting on more fully than the news release, which simply announced his sponsorship of a high school basketball tournament. It quotes Howard as saying, "I am excited about being a part of this tournament which showcases the best of the best. This is not just about dribbling a ball but about keeping your grades up and being an all around good student." It seems natural and appropriate to add some context and to include his recent comments about marijuana use and the Star Spangled Banner. But is it more than a sports section story? My answer: it's on the front page in the morning paper, not necessarily because it is important, but because it's one of those stories that makes you shake your head. Yes, he's done some good charity work, but is this the role model we want for high school athletes? Yours? P.S. It also includes my favorite quote this morning, coming from the Josh Howard Foundation's PR manager: Honestly, some of the things that have been published have been negative.

The Asheville Citizen-Times is looking to capitalize (in terms of content, and in terms of cash) on the inauguration of President Barack Obama by taking part in a new venture led by its corporate parent, Gannett Co. The strategy is called Content One, and it's described at length over at Gannett Blog.

Gannett is creating a special inauguration Web site that every Gannett newspaper in America, including the Citizen-Times, will put on its own Web site. Gannett will sell national advertising on the site, which it hopes will be viewed from coast to coast. And individual newspapers will have the ability to print a special section to add to its newspapers, a special section filled with local advertising. Last year, one bright spot on the newspaper landscape was that sales of newspapers recording the historic election of Obama went through the roof. Everyone wanted a keepsake.

Locally, you'll see the Citizen-Times asking for people's past inauguration stories and photos. They're already asking for people to tell them if they plan to attend the Jan. 20 inauguration. And there are plenty more strategies, all outlined by Gannett. Here's a sample:

Here is a menu of some ideas gathered from around Gannett. We share these to encourage you to partner with your readers in interesting, fun ways. Several of these could attract advertisers' interest in adjacencies or sponsorships.

• Essay contest for students: Students could be asked to submit essays around a theme you identify (a message to the president, an examination of the significance, etc.) You could gather them the first two weeks of January and run the winner in the special section on Jan. 18 (if you're using it). All essays could be posted online.
• Students help write the speech: Invite classes to write the opening paragraphs of the inauguration speech. You could circle back afterward and see how theirs compared to Obama's.
• Good old mugs and quotes: Gather lots of people-on-the-street vignettes asking what the inauguration means to them. Sprinkle liberally throughout the advance coverage.
• Readers share their ties to the inauguration: People throughout our communities have interesting connections – businesses are part of the event, residents are planning trips. Ask for readers to submit their photos and blogs to connect the dots across the community.
• Capture the interest in history: Ask for photos from past inaugurations. Ask for stories of encounters with past presidents. Ask for photos/anecdotes about interesting campaign memorabilia.
• Letters to the president: You could ask students to write letters about what they hope the president will accomplish. Or, could turn to adults for the same thing. The letters could be posted online, with selected one presented on the opinion page.
• Be sure to get all sides: Just as we balance our journalism, we need to balance our outreach to readers. Remember, whatever you do, to include people who didn't vote for Obama and who retain skepticism. This may require special outreach.
• Seek readers' editorial cartoons: Editorial cartoons can captivate readers. Ask readers to try their hand at sharing their perspectives via original artwork.
• Time capsule: Partner with the local library to fill and bury a time capsule. Enlist readers in nominating what should be in it, where it should be buried, when it should be opened.

We'll have to watch and see what the Web site and local print product looks like to determine if it's a success. It's an interesting experiment.

 

The Edgecombe County Board of Commissioners approved several items Monday, including more than $400,000 funding for the Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office. The Sheriff's Office was appropriated funds by the Commissioners for a new evidence storage facility, as well as 18 new patrol vehicles. (Daily Southerner) See related: County Commissioners

I was talking to some friends, and the consensus seems to be that now that the holidays are over, Asheville has moved into survival mode.

The tourists have packed up. The holiday twinkle has dimmed. People are getting laid off or taking pay cuts. Restaurants are shutting down. Sources are telling me that Steve & Barry's at the Biltmore Square Mall will announce that it's closing next week. The national economy is going down the tubes.

People are hunkering down and stuffing that cash in the mattress. They're looking to get by with used clothes and without cars. I see a lot of people suddenly bringing their lunch to work. (me, too.)

So, are you in survival mode?

[Ed. Note -- Paul McNeal has a great guest contribution below. I'm encouraging him to become a regular InterstateQ.com contributor. I'm sure you'll like his stuff and hope you encourage him to join the club, too! -- Matt] “When I am president of the United States, Gays and Lesbians will have somebody who will fight [...]

Yes:

Love has no secrets from neurologists armed with an MRI brain scanner. What they have found contradicts the cynics: there is such a thing as everlasting love.

Researchers at Stony Brook University in New York have shown that the traditionally sorry path of sexual love - a downward spiral from lust to indifference over the space of a decade - is not an iron rule. Scanning the brains of people who have been together for 20 years, the scientists found that about one in 10 couples still display elements of “limerence”, the psychologists’ term for the obsessive behaviour of new lovers. They enjoy “intensive companionship and sexual liveliness” but without the anxieties and tensions of early love. They are generous, calm and deeply attached. The scientists call them swans (swans mate for life). This is good news for the 10%, if not for the remaining 90% gripped by marital fatigue.

What's more, these researchers believe they have discovered the biological basis for "love".

Actual screenshot from Amazon for a bunny hutch:

This is a damn shame that Wiggins is the only one to vote in favor of the rezoning request. I attended the meeting last month and it is no reason why this request should not have been granted. It is sad that the Hines, Harris and Powell (black) voted against this matter. I also don't understand why the others would vote against it also but I can understand them better since this is Macclesfield. Although the county Planning Board had recommended the denial the staff was in favor of it because legally it could be done per the statue. So how do these folks vote against this request simply because of the protesters asssumptions? This is ignance on the 6 commissioners who voted against the request. C. Dancy II - Editor/TPA Several Edgecombe County residents successfully protested a rezoning request at the Board of Commissioners meeting Monday that would have allowed a mobile home park to be built near their properties near Pinetops. Eddie Williams of Greenville wants to rezone 14 acres off N.C. 124 East from an AR-30 (agricultural district) to a R-20 (residential district). The county Planning Board had recommended the request be denied. (Daily Southerner) See related: County Commissioners

INTERSTATEQ.COM EXCLUSIVE Last updated: 01/06/2009 10:48 a.m. EST Updates: OutGayLife.com has removed some copyrighted material. Other material, including newly found, copyrighted material, remains live on the website network. Updates are found at the end of the article. An LGBT website network operating under the banner of OutGayLife.com is possibly guilty of violating copyright and intellectual property laws for [...]

• 6 p.m. Jan. 22 at Statesville Senior High School, 474 N. Center St. in Statesville.


• An initial hearing will be held at 6 p.m. Jan. 15 in Forest City, near the plant, at Chase High School, 1603 Chase High School Road.

For more information, read this article in the Asheville Citizen-Times, which includes instructions on how to mail in your written comments if you are unable to attend.

Some love advice from Unknown Hinson. I think this vid was shot in Marshall.

One of the "mainstream media" people I've met who really gets the new frontier of media is Lex Alexander a reporter for the Greensboro News & Record.  Actually he's now an ex-reporter for the News & Record because yesterday he wrote a farewell post on the paper's health blog:

Times truly are tough for newspapers and I think this is going to be a bad loss for the N&R.  I've had the chance to speak with Lex a few times and I think he understands as well as anyone what developments like the evolution of blogs and other forms of "conversation media" mean for the news industry.  He's a big part of why the News & Record's web presence, as imperfect as it is, is still superior to other newspapers of similar size in this region.

Hopefully Lex is moving on to great things.

Sunset into the water pics are a cliche of Key West tourism above which I could not rise.

Coal-ash spill fouls water in Tennessee, brings new scrutiny to TVA.