Barbecue and Basketball Makes For A Perfect Day

Yesterday, Mark, Lance, Sara, Nora, Kevin and I piled into a car and headed down 64 to Lexington to have some barbecue. Holy moly. The barbecue at Lexington #1 was phenomenal. As soon as we pulled in the parking lot, you could smell the smokehouse.

I got a hotdog and a plate of barbecue and slaw:


The barbecue was smoky and flavorful all on its own. The slaw was very vinegary and seemd to compliment the barbecue perfectly. The hushpuppies did nothing for me. I thought they were bland and dry, but I was the only person in the group that felt this way. What do I know.

After we ate, Lance, Kevin and I wandered around to the back of the restaurant and were invited inside to view THE MEAT IN THE PIT!!!!


It was fun to be in the car with a bunch of music geeks. I was teased for liking Bill Withers and John Schneider. But it's cool because I introduced them to this unique version of Van Halen's "Running with the Devil" which thrilled Nora to no end.

After we got back, I came home and practiced ukulele for a little while before walking over to Kevin's to watch the biggest basketball game of the season. After loading up on tacos and tamales from Azteca Grill and plenty of beers, we watched the game on the BIG HD TV. During the second half, Lance asks us if we would prefer seeing Paulus' jaw broken or to have UNC win the game. But even better than having his jaw broken, Paulus was offered some tea:



And then we won the game. I celebrated by coming home and drinking *more* bourbon and dancing to Richard Hawley in the kitchen.

North Carolina in March doesn't get any better than that.

Robert Writes About Our Food Adventure

My friend, Robert, writes for the Village Voice. Here is his tale about our eating adventure in South Ozone Park, NY.

Clyde Angels

So many wonderful things have happened for me this year. I think that 2007 has been one of the best years of my life.

One of the great things to happen to me this year is reconnecting with my old friend, Clyde Jones. In the mid-nineties, I would go out to the Critter Crossing to visit Clyde at least once a week. I learned about Clyde through Craven, who studied Clyde during a UNC folklore class. He said, "Charlotte, you just gotta meet this guy." So, I went out there with only the knowledge that this guy built animals out of wood using a chainsaw. Whatever. Big Deal. Yawn.

But wow. Before you even reach his yard, you can see his work from down the street. And then when you finally reach his yard, it's just mind-blowing. There are critters and paintings everywhere. I was instantly charmed by his work. I squealed when I saw his animals. The passion in his artwork could immediately be felt upon entering his yard. The critters were cut by chainsaw from logs and pieced together with huge nails. The heads were made of cedar and decorated with paint, glitter, flowers and other found objects. Each horse, dog, cow, mosquito, giraffe, person, elephant, fish, deer, and cat had individual personality. I found myself wandering around his yard petting each one and talking to them.

Eventually, one time when I was out visiting, Clyde came outside to meet me. We had a great time talking and soon became really good friends. During our weekly visits, I'd talk to him about how I wanted to move away or how I was having a hard time with my parents or stuff going on at work, and he would always offer simple but wonderful advice. And he would discuss his artwork with me. He would discuss how he was trying to paint new animals or how he was out trying to find new cedar stumps. I was honored that he sought my opinion on his work.

During that time, we even made several critters together. We made a HUGE giraffe for my porch. We made painting for my parents. We made little critters which are still scattered all over my house. I even made some artwork for him to hang on his porch. My favorite subject to paint was Clyde and his dog, Speck. But once I moved to Durham and started working in Raleigh, our visits became less frequent. And when I did make it out to Bynum, it seemed that he was never at home. He's a busy artist.


But this summer, when I was regularly out tubing on the Haw, I started visiting Clyde all over again. And we just picked up where we left off. And I've been out to visit him about once a month ever since. Yesterday afternoon, I went over to Clyde's for a visit and to pick up an angel that he was supposed to be making for my for my Christmas decorations. He had been working on the Nativity for his yard, but was having trouble with the Baby Jesus. He instructed me to drive by the Bynum Church down the street from him to see a finished Nativity.

This is Clyde's Baby Jesus from the Bynum Church Nativity:


So, Clyde ended up giving me three angels for Christmas. Two for me and one for my mom and dad. While listening to my favorite radio show of the year, Bill Burton's Best of the Year Show, I wrapped my angels in lights. It's better than a Christmas tree:

I was going to get a real Christmas tree for the first time ever. (The thought of that just seems so grown-up.) But since I was out of town last weekend and I am swamped this weekend, I decided to put off getting a Christmas tree for another year. I think that the angels look better than a tree anyway. Now I just need to wrap some presents to scatter at their feet.

Guess Who's Going to See Richard Hawley!

I AM!!!! ME!!! ME!!! ME!!! How about you?

Saturday, December 1st at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC. Woo hoo!!! His other US Tour dates are here.

Run. Don't walk. Get your tickets. Book your flights.

Oh! I almost forgot my Italian Richard Hawley story!! While Ross, Maggie, Chris and I were waiting on the ferry in Pozzallo to transport us to Malta, we killed time in a little cafe eating gelato, drinking espresso and playing scrabble. The cafe was playing the radio over the speakers.. Italian and American pop songs. And then to my surprise and excitement, I heard Richard Hawley! He was on the radio!!!! (On something other than my own radio show!) Unfortunately, the gelato man turned the station about halfway through "Tonight The Streets Are Ours." But with the energy I got from hearing that song on the radio, I creamed my scrabble opponents. Go Triple Word Score!!!

My Favorite Things About My Vacation

Besides being away from work for two entire weeks, which is wonderful on a whole different level, these are the things that I loved most about my vacation:

1. Pupi. This is the Italian plural for puppets. We saw a puppet show in Siracusa which delighted me to no end. There were pupi for sale in every chatckie shop and tourist stand. In Taormina, we saw giant pupi. And I just love saying pupi. Pupi. Pupi. Pupi.



2. The seafood. It was the best. Robert, sent me a newly published book of slow food restaurants in Italy. We tried a couple of them and we scored. I had tuna tartare at a restaurant called Metro in Catania that blew us all away. I don't have a picture of that, but here are sea urchins from the market in Siracusa.



3. Mdina at Night. We arrived in Mdina, Malta, very very late and had a tiny bit of trouble finding our hotel at first. So, we ended up walking around Mdina, (The Silent City) in the middle of the night. It was gorgeous and quiet. This is the entrance to Mdina (a medieval fortressed city) as we saw it after being dropped off by our driver.



4. The Opera at the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania. I know bits and pieces about music here and there. But opera is a genre that I know little about. I think I have only seen two or three operas in my lifetime. Ross, Maggie and I saw Tosca at this opera house in Catania. There was a part in the opera that made me tear up a little. It was beautiful and sad. And the opera house was jaw-droppingly beautiful. And they served corn nuts.



5. Dwejra, Gozo. As I said in a previous post, the Mediterranean is so blue. It was thrilling to take a little boat ride out into the ocean and around the enormous rocks.



6. The Cardinal Visiting the Antique Car Show in Mdina. We got back to Mdina after doing some sightseeing and walked into the Cathedral Square to find hoards of people and rows of antique cars. We had so much fun looking at the cars. And then the cardinal arrived. Whee!



7. The Hike to Castello Saraceno in Taormina. I was sick at this point of our trip. And I am embarrassingly fearful of any sort of heights. The hike was steep with overlooks that made me dizzy. I wanted to give up about 1/5 of the way there. But Ross and Maggie encouranged me to continue. We hiked from way down in Taormina toward our destination which was the Castella Saraceno. Here is a shot taken during our hike. At this point we were 3/4 of the way there.



But dagnabbit! We were denied! The gate to Castello Saraceno was locked!



8. Mgarr Harbor in Gozo. It was just beautiful and we drank beer and ate malt balls as we overlooked the harbor.



And then we saw a horse swimming in it.



9. Mt. Etna. Hiking along snow-covered craters of an active volcano felt like walking on the moon. The lava rocks were extremely hot to the touch in some spots. It was so amazing up there.



10. St Paul's Cathedral in Mdina. I don't think I have ever seen anything quite like that. It was beautiful in there. There was different kinds of marble everywhere. Every surface was covered with some sort of decoration. It was just stunning.



11. Francesco, Our Taxi Driver. He was just supposed to take us from our hotel to the bus stop in Siracusa, but he ended up driving us all the way to our destination in Pozzallo. He gave us a tour of Noto on the way. He was such a nice man. I sat in the front seat of the taxi with him and he played music for me and I wiggled and danced in my seat in appreciation. That is Francesco in the lower right corner.



12. The Good Graffiti in Catania. I wasn't all that impressed with Catania. I thought it was smelly and dirty and there was graffiti everywhere. Most of it was really really lame. But then I discovered this one artist. I found a couple of his works in the city. I thought it was really amazing stuff. If you're going to do graffiti, do it right.

Going Down the Grade Making 90 Miles an Hour

I've been given all sorts of advice concerning my stress and anxiety and my difficulty sleeping. Folks have offered their advice on relaxation techniques, meditation, breathing exercises, etc. The one thing that helps me to relax is to clear my mind by concentrating on a relaxing, comforting place. For me, this place is my grandparents' house in Danville, VA.

When I was growing up, one of my favorite things in the world was to go visit my grandparents. I was able to visit for a week or more alone without my brothers or my parents. My grandmother and I would kill beetles and water the roses in her huge rose garden. I'd spend time climbing one of the two excellent climbing trees in her yard. We'd make lemon squares in her kitchen in the afternoons. After supper, my grandparents and I would walk around the block, sometimes down Mount Vernon Avenue where I could climb on the "cannon." I will always cherish the time that I spent with my grandparents at their house. It was truly special.

So, now, when I am feeling stressed or restless, I can close my eyes, take a deep breath and start remembering my grandparents' house. In my head, I can walk through each room... the living room, the den, the upstairs bedrooms, the basement, the kitchen. I know what's in every room down to the texture of the dining room wallpaper to the rug in the back upstairs bedroom. When I visit their house in my head, I can even remember items in drawers and closets like the wall-mounted ice crusher in the back porch closet or my grandmother's facial powder in her dressing table drawer. Lately, the memories of the items in the drawers have been fading, but I can remember most of what was in all the closets.

My grandmother died about nine years ago, at which time we emptied their house and sold it. I haven't physically stepped foot in Danville since. But last Saturday, I decided to return.

The Danville Science Center was having Train Days celebrating the 104th anniversary of the train wreck of the old 97 which happened September 27th, 1903 in Danville for which a song was written. I think that the song is more famous than the actual wreck. This song has always been special since it was one that my dad sang to me when I was little. My dad took pride in his non-traditional bedtime songs. So, I decided to make the trek to Danville to participate in the Train Days festivities and to wander around Danville.

First, I went to Main Street to check out the architecture and the Grove Street Cemetary behind Midtown Market. I could try to write about how jaw-droppingly beautiful the architecture was, but it's best to just look at the pictures. Afterwards, I went to Midtown Market and packed my cooler with oatmeal cookies (two dense cookies with frosting between... like a real Little Debbie, but only better), pimento cheese, and chicken salad.

Then, on friends' suggestions, I went to Short Sugar's Barbecue across town for lunch. It was disappointing. I ordered a chopped barbecue plate with hush puppies, slaw and fries. The fries were tasteless... obviously frozen. The barbecue was terrible. It tasted old. It was chewy, fatty and had no flavor whatsoever. I tried to flavor it with what I thought was barbecue sauce, but I think it was just an unmarked bottle of steak sauce. After I watched my waitress behind the counter scream at the other workers while flossing every tooth in her face, I left.

I toured the Science Center whhich is actually the Danville Train Station which has the most eerie collection of mounted animals and birds. It really creeped me out. After watching an old-time band and a couple of old guys clog, I boarded a shuttle to take a group down to the famed train site. But it was gated off! The owner of the land was doing some demolition work and had the entire area locked up. I was slightly disappointed, but not terribly so since I was now thinking about driving past my grandparents' house and I felt a little scared. I didn't know what kind of emotions it might stir up.

To my surprise, when I arrived at their house, I saw that the new owner (she bought the house in the spring) was doing some gardening in the front yard. She was really nice and told me that her neighbors are always telling her stories about my grandparents and what wonderful people they were. She invited me walk around the house and take pictures. Many of the trees had been cut down including my two favorite climbing trees. She told me that the previous owners really let the yard go and she was trying hard to get the yard back to its full glory. As I walked around to the back of the garage, I saw the remnants of my grandmother's rose garden and I burst into tears. About half of the roses were gone, but some were left and the sweet aroma of her roses was intense. It was such a joyous site. I felt like a little girl all over again and I even found myself looking for a beetles like I used to do.

I left Danville and headed to Glencoe for a picnic and wading in the Haw River. We ended up playing "The Wreck of the Old 97" on ukulele which was the perfect way to end my Danville day. That song has great ukulelability to it and it is perfect to sing loudly and off-key. You can listen to Jenks Carmen's version here.

California, California You're Such A Wonder That I Think I'll Stay In Bed

Craven and John got hitched last weekend on a hilltop in Calistoga, CA. It was a really touching ceremony. Lots of Magnetic Fields quotes. I cried.


There was alot of partying and playing and hiking and swimmng and dancing.


I was voted best dressed (besides the happy couple who looked extremely dapper). But 2 1/2 inch heels were not meant to be worn in grass.


The whole weekend was full of love and happiness. Craven's dad gave such a wonderful toast on Friday that I cried. It was great to see everyone so happy and having such a great time.


It was also wonderful to catch up with old friends that I haven't seen in years and years.


Today, I am exhausted. I got in late last night and I couldn't sleep. I made it into work at 8am and it was a blur. It is so busy at work and there is no time for me to be jet-lagged. I should get to bed.

For my drive up through wine country to the ranch, I chose to listen to Richard Hawley, which was perfect road trip music through the hills of Napa Valley.

Congratulations, John and Craven. Y'all are the greatest. And the bacon was the best.

Barbecue Country Doctor Drag Strip

On Saturday, a group of us took a road trip to eastern North Carolina for a day of barbecue sampling in Goldsboro and Wilson, a winery tour, Vollis Simpson's whirlygigs in Lucama, the Dunn-Benson Drag Strip, and the Country Doctor Museum in Bailey.

Ross can give you all the details about the barbecue we sampled over at Chowhound. Let me just say that I am ready to take a banana pudding tour of NC barbecue restaurants. Oh my god. I have never been a big banana pudding fan, but I am now!! Do all barbecue restaurants in this state carry banana pudding? I think I need to take a road trip to find out!!!

As far as barbecue is concerned, my friend, Robert has always sung the praises of Wilber's Barbecue on Highway 70 in Goldsboro. Other NC barbecue enthusiasts hold Wilber's as the eastern NC standard by which to gauge all others. Hmm. We weren't that impressed. Some coworkers and some other Goldsboro natives have told me that right across the street from Wilber's you'll find better barbecue at McCall's. They were right. McCall's ran out of barbecue soon after we arrived. We got the last pound of it. Time to make more.

The visit to the Country Doctor Museum was amazing. The museum itself didn't thrill me all that much, but our tour guide was the best. I swear this woman looked like she was an 18 year-old, sweet-as-pie, sorority girl wearing the cutest little sundress. She kept amazing me with her ability to just spout off the facts of the museum collection in this matter-of-fact tone. She told us which instruments were used to saw off limbs in less than 60 seconds, which plants could induce the shits, and how the iron lung chorus used to creep nurses out. It was borderline performance art.

You should definitely check out the Dunn-Benson Drag Strip if you are in the area. Don't forget your earplugs. I have never witnessed anything like that before in my life and for some reason, I really loved it. Wheelie-poppin' fast cars!!! Woo hoo!!!

Have you ever been in the presence of Vollis Simpson's whirlygigs? There's nothing I can say to explain the experience. So, if you haven't ever been to Lucama to see his artwork, please go. He is an amazing person to chat with. Very sweet man. He's 87 or thereabouts, so don't put off your trip to visit him. And his artwork is phenomenal. I bought one of his pieces a few years ago. I haven't put it out in my yard yet, but I should. It's got a bird sniffing a cat's butt on it. Now that's what I call art.

Haw River Vacationing

In a couple months, I'm going to Italy. For two whole weeks. I don't think I've ever taken two weeks off work EVER... except about 12 years ago when I was in the hospital, but that wasn't necessarily a vacation. In fact, it was pretty awful, except for the morphine-enhanced Welcome Back, Kotter marathon on the hospital TV. But that doesn't compare to a healthy two-week holiday in Sicily... I cannot wait.

But since I am taking that trip to Italy, I've had no other vacation time to use for any other trips this summer except for the few days in Brooklyn for the hot dog eating contest. But it's been ok because I have been taking weekly mini-vacations on the Haw River. After work or on the weekends, I've joined other folks tubing on the Haw in Bynum. It's been incredible.

I grew up around the Haw River in Burlington, but didn't think much about it except that we drove over it on our way to my grandparents' house as we headed north toward Danville. I really fell in love with the river and with Bynum in 1992-93 when Craven took me out to meet folk artist, Clyde Jones (see his paintings above) and to sit by the dam by 15-501. I just thought that Bynum was magical. Over the past ten years or so, I've unfortunately spent less time in Bynum with Clyde or by the Haw (except a few visits to Glencoe).

But latey, I've had the opportunity to go tubing about once a week on the Haw in Bynum. It's such an amazing experience, I don't even know where to begin to describe it. The craziest, most stressful day just melts away while lounging lazily in a tube floating down the river. The scenery is breathtaking and the water is so calm. My favorite thing is seeing the water reflected in the trees... which looks like little fairies. Usually we're the only people around. We able to see creatures such as damselflies, herons, and some little fishes. We've even seen a bald eagle. I like to zone out on the sound of the cicadas (which I called crickets growing up). I'm sad that it's mid-August and the summer will be over soon and I won't be able to experience the Haw like this anymore.

But until summer is over, I want to tube the Haw as much as possible.

I Heart Richard Serra

My trip to New York this month was filled with wonderful things. In addition to various hot dog activities, there was a recording session with the Badgers and Ewald made bacon-wrapped figs dipped in chocolate. The music was rough and I learned that attempting to play Duran Duran's "Rio" on ukulele is harder than I thought. And good lord. Figs. Wrapped in bacon. Dipped in chocolate. Incredible.

On my last day in New York, we went to the MOMA to see the Richard Serra retrospective. His work is so amazing and I think he might be my favorite sculptor. To be in the presence of one of his works is just thrilling. Serra creates these magestic metal torqued ellipses and spirals that have subtle bends and twists. I feel like you have to spend a good five or ten minutes with one of his pieces to "get it." Upon first glance, the sheer size and material of his works can be very intimidating. But the closer you get, the more inviting they become. Walking in and around them is dizzying and mezmerizing. They manipulate sounds as well as your perspective and balance. Heck, I can't describe his works. I lost the art history lingo when I graduated 14 years ago. But if you have the opportunity to see Richard Serra's work, I highly recommend that you go.


All the pictures from our Richard Serra experience can be found here.

New Jersey Hot Dog Jaunt

I was really happy to catch up with my friend, Robert, on this trip to New York. He loves a hot dog and is always more than willing to take me, Lee and Ewald to try new hot dog stands in and around New York. He can tell you where to find some of the best eats around the city... always a good friend to have.

Today, Robert, Fenna, Lee and I took a short trip over to Jersey City to try a dog at Boulevard Drinks, where they only serve hot dogs. No french fries, no onion rings, no hamburgers. Just hot dogs. And soft drinks. I tried their onion chili hot dog. I learned that this did not mean two condiments, but it was a single condiment of spicy chili laced with onions. Very tasty.


We also traveled down the street where I ate my first White Castle burger which was very odd. We don't have White Castles in North Carolina and I've had only one fast food burger in the past 18 years to compare the White Castle to. The sandwich is a little bit smaller than a Biscuitville biscuit and the meat is the thickness of a piece of bologna. Robert, Lee and I shared it and then ate an Indian pistachio popsicle (not from White Castle), which I gotta say was better than Locopops.



Robert also took us by Singh's Department Store, which was a bit scary. Lee and I thought it was closed at first since you couldn't really see inside. But then we realized that the reason you couldn't see anything was that there was stuff packed to the ceiling. There was only a single narrow path down the center of the store and you really couldn't see a thing. It seemed like what bad dreams are made of. I think that someone had an obsessive compulsive hoarding disorder and filled a room with as much stuff as possible and slapped a store sign over it. I really loved it and could've spent all day in there. The figure that you see standing in the photo below is standing in the entrance at the very front of the store. That's how crammed this store was.


Robert says that he might be coming to North Carolina to work on some new stories on barbeque and might be willing to take me along. Whee!

I Have Versus Stuck In My Head

I had mentioned to Rossi that I was thinking about going to find this outsider art stone village north of Hillsborough. He wanted to go, too.

In my life, I've passed by this house a million times on my way up Hwy 86 on the way to Danville to see my grandparents. It on the right soon after you pass Hwy 49 in Prospect Hill. I have always loved this house... the trees, the porch, the stone wall and stone fountain. If I were to move out to the middle of nowhere, I'd want to live in a house just like this.


But I had no idea of what was on the other side of the driveway down the embankment. Wow. I squealed. It was a miniature village made of stones, concrete, bricks, and found objects. I was blown away.

In 1968, retired tobacco farmer, Henry L. Warren started building his little stone village. And it grew. It was very inspiring.


If this ukulele thing doesn't work out, I want to make beautiful, crazy yard art, too.

But when I say the word "Shangri-La" in my head, I cannot help but think of the song by Versus. I'll have to play that tomorrow night on the radio.

Hot Diggity! Hot Diggity!

Before you read this post, let me tell you something. I love hotdogs. I am obsessed with hotdogs. I was a vegetarian for 12 long years and the meat that I missed was hotdogs. My craving turned into obsession when I worked at Merge. I think that everyone in the office loved hotdogs. On a very regular basis, someone in the office would make a hotdog run to Squeaky's up at NCNB Plaza on Franklin Street. In 1999, we gave our ten-year anniversary compilation called Oh, Merge the subtitle Sexy Panties and Hotdogs. Fans mailed us weird hotdog-themed items such as odd photographs, whistles and squirtguns. We loved it.

Today, my obsession (aka sickness) for the beloved frankfurter was rekindled. Despite the sunburn and Skip being sick (I hope you're feeling better!), today was an amazing day. Chris, Germaine and I took a trip to Charlotte to see an IFOCE-sanctioned National Hotdog Eating Contest Qualifier. As I am sure that everyone reading this knows, there is a huge event on the corner of Surf and Stillwell at Coney Island every Fourth of July: Nathan's National Hotdog Eating Contest. In order to compete at this event that is now broadcast on ESPN, you must win one of the qualifying events. Today marked North Carolina's first ever qualifier.

Germaine was asked by the IFOCE [International Federation of Competitive Eating] to film the contest. She shot some amazing footage and I cannot wait to see it. Rich Shea (one of the masterminds behind this whole marketing scheme that is called the IFOCE) was really nice and told the two of us to go wherever we wanted for the event. We could go backstage, in front of the stage, even ON STAGE during the event. I shot alot of great pictures. But who the heck is that Sonya poseur on the right?



That guy in the middle, Hal Hunt, or as Rich Shea says "the Faith-Based Eater" won with 28.75 HDB (hotdogs with buns) which is less than half of the world record holder, Joey Chestnut. The Sonya Poseur only downed 28. But Hal had Jesus on his side. He prays before each event. He even prayed when Skip, Germaine and I saw him win a grilled cheese sandwich eating contest at the NC State Fair in 2005. (That's him sitting and praying on the far right in the photo below.)


Rich is going to send me some t-shirts and VIP PASSES to the big daddy event on July 4th at Coney Island. This will be my fifth year making the pilgrimage to Nathan's. I am so excited. It's gonna be freakin' HUGE. I have to get my signs ready. I'm still rootin' for Sonya Thomas, as the black widow of the gurgitators will alway be #1 on my list. But I want Joey Chestnut to beat that pompous punk Kobayashi.