Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Tech Crunch - The Smoffice

"Durham (a city in North Carolina) is looking to vitalize their already burgeoning startup scene by giving away the “World’s Smallest Office,” a moniker I once reserved for my attic bathroom but can now be rendered unto a bit of space in the front of a Cafe in Durham’s beautiful Downtown. Although the office shown above appears to be more like a monkey cage than a formal workspace, the Smoffice (as it’s called) will be available to one small startup for six months."

- Startups: Durham Wants You In Their Smoffice, Tech Crunch

Garden & Gun - Big Spoon Roasters

"We’ll admit it. Sometimes we get nostalgic for the lunch pails of our youth, and nothing screams childhood like a good old peanut butter and jelly. But thanks to two North Carolina-based outfits, Big Spoon Roasters and Farmer’s Daughter Preserves, you can give the classic PB&J a grown-up Southern revise... Big Spoon owner Mark Overbay spent a decade searching grocery shelves for the perfect peanut butter before deciding he could do better."

- PB&J Grows Up, Garden & Gun

Tech Journal South - The Smoffice

"Sometime in May, you’re going to be walking down Main street in Downtown Durham and pass by a glass-encased habitat at the front of a well-known coffee shop where a single entrepreneur or team of entrepreneurs will be feverishly working for your enjoyment... You’ll be peering through the glass at The Smoffice, a so-crazy-it-has-to-work partnership between the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Durham Inc., Beyu Caffe, and a host of other local sponsors."

- Durham to stuff the next big thing in a tiny little office, Tech Journal South

Monday, February 27, 2012

Small Market Meetings - Entertainment Options in Durham, NC

"Tobacco warehouses and textile mills have become entertainment options in Durham, home of Duke University. In the past decade, this city of 235,000 has revitalized its downtown by restoring historic buildings and creating entertainment districts filled with baseball stadiums, breweries and ballet."

- Southeast: That's Entertainment, Small Market Meetings

Washington Post - Philip Freelon

"On Tuesday morning, architect Phil Freelon will watch a symbolic shovel break ground on a five-acre site for a new museum adjacent to the Washington Monument...The museum’s design is the result of an intense collaboration among Freelon and two other architects: David Adjaye and the late Max Bond... Freelon, now the museum’s architect of record, specializes in designing spaces that weave together the nation’s history, fabric and culture."

- Philip Freelon, Lead Architect of the Smithsonian's African American Museum, Washington Post

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

About That Car - Durham, NC

"Lexus has never dispensed an egg, in my view, and there’s no hen in the DNA of its RX 350... used during a recent excursion around delightfully quirky and creatively cool Durham, N.C. This is a Lexus, for sure... Drive-wise, the sport-ute ably carted friend and me to the sticks to Elodie Farms, where we first-class noshed on — famished? turn away now — three courses including a delicate goat cheese salad and sublime vinaigrette; pan-seared yellowtail snapper with candied yams, brussel sprouts and beets; and braised pork leg with mushroom and corn risotto plus an exquisite flower salad. Awesome... This is a nice in-and-out, easy-parking about-town car, as evinced during a congested run to the popular Durham Performing Arts Center, in a revived downtown, to see the vaunted Rockettes. Later, vehicle agility and a good steering ratio got us easily parked at Duke University, where renown classical pianist Greg McCallum put on a fine — and free! — recital."

Friday, February 17, 2012

Huffington Post - Luchadoras

"More than 500 spectators cheered the little "Golden Eagle" on as she launched herself against her opponent in Durham, N.C., in January. They were witnessing the final conflict between 10 luchadora women competing in traditional Mexican Lucha Libre wrestling. But these women were fighting for more than just cheers.

Members of the North Carolina Dream Team are used to taking on fearsome foes, whether demonstrating for the DREAM Act, the federal legislation that would allow students without papers to attend college and get legal, or organizing campaigns to keep undocumented youth from being deported. Now female members are donning masks to get in the ring and literally grapple with their opponents to help raise support for their cause."

- Female "Lucha Libre" Wrestlers Fight for a Dream in North Carolina, Huffington Post

ESPN - Duke Blue Devils

"No deficit seems too deep these days for Duke -- even if the Blue Devils insist they can't afford to keep winning this way. For the second time in nine days, Duke (No. 4 ESPN/USA Today, No. 5 AP) staged a remarkable comeback to beat a neighborhood rival."

- Duke rallies from 20 down to fight off NC State, ESPN

Thursday, February 16, 2012

FunnyLove - Broad Street Cafe

"Broad Street Café in Durham, North Carolina is my type of place. It is a pretention-free atmosphere that makes you feel at home as soon as you walk in the door...All I can say is that if you’re in Durham, North Carolina you should swing by Broad Street Café and check them out. I would love to go back in the spring and sit on their patio and listen to live music while I literally try every single beer on tap."

- Restaurant Review: Broad Street Cafe, FunnyLove

The Washington Post - Duke Divinity Prof. Lauren Winner

"Lauren Winner is a jumble of contradictions: A Jew who found Christianity in a dream starring Daniel Day Lewis as Jesus, an accomplished historian who rides an oversized tricycle to work, and a memoir writer who wants to keep details of her private life private...writing popular books is where her calling lies. “What I do best is this act of translation,” she said, taking religion scholarship and making it accessible to a wider audience. On a recent Sunday, she turned that act of translation on the congregation at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Durham, where she preaches about six times a year."

- Historian Tackles Doubt, Divorce and the Priesthood, The Washington Post

NPR - Midtown Dickens

"Only Brother," the first single from Midtown Dickens' new album Home, sets a twangy tone for the North Carolina band's most nuanced and beautifully produced album yet...the song does what the group does best: It resurrects old folk and bluegrass sounds and injects them with verve, quirkiness and modern ideas...Just last year, though, [Midtown Dickens] took a big step toward national recognition by touring with The Mountain Goats. Now, with Home, Midtown Dickens is ready to invite the rest of America onto its front porch."



- Midtown Dickens: Sound of a Shapeshifter, NPR

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

The Post Game - NC Central University

"'White boy.' That's how Landon Clement is referred to by a lot of students here on the historically black campus of North Carolina Central University. When he first arrived two years ago, the term was not exactly a compliment...But he was no hanger-on. He was good. Really good...But students here don't just appreciate Clement because he can shoot the trey. They also respect the way he carries himself -- the way he walks through campus with his hoodie up and backpack strapped tight, calling no attention to himself whatsoever. He's not a big talker. In fact, he's not much of a talker at all."

- White Star, Black School: Landon Clement Is The Face Of Upstart North Carolina Central, The Post Game

ESPN - March Madness / Duke Blue Devils

"Four freshmen (besides Anthony Davis) who will have the biggest say in how their team fares in March:

1. Austin Rivers, Duke: The Blue Devils point guard had his "aha!" moment when he swished a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to beat North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Seth Curry, Ryan Kelly and the Plumlee brothers are nice pieces, but Rivers is the Blue Devils' game changer."

- Four Weeks Until March Madness Begins, ESPN.com

Michael Sullivan's Real Estate Blog - Durham Dining

"Twenty or so some odd years ago when I moved to Durham there wasn’t a whole lot of choice when it came to my cities dining out menu.  Oh there were chain restaurants, a few upscale eateries and just a smidge of ethnic foods. Today at 2012 not only is the Bull City a medical destination, a diet destination but we are a food destination... The food and service at all of these spots is amazing and happily in Durham, you’ll find a whole lot more to explore, eat and love. Why I could write a book. Hmm, maybe I should."

- Where to eat in Durham NC, Michael Sullivan's Real Estate Blog

Foodservice Equipment & Supplies - Bull City Burger & Brewery

"When Bull City Burger and Brewery opened its doors in March of last year, the goal was not only to serve burgers its customers would come back for, but also to play an integral part in the cycle of energy from the farms it sources. The entire Bull City menu, including the buns, is made from scratch on-site by staffUnlike traditional casual burger joints, Bull City is positioned as part of the farm-to-fork movement. Its pasture-raised beef is sourced from North Carolina farmers that are part of the Farmhand Foods Network... Grain left over from the restaurant's brewing process feeds locally raised pigs that are used to make Bull City's bacon."

- Q&A: Seth Gross, owner, Bull City Burger and Brewery, Durham NC, Foodservice Equipment & Supplies

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Eater.com - Durham Dining

"A lot of places are kind of doing following the style of the established restaurants like Magnolia Grill in Durham. It's sort of this southern, seasonal, fairly sophisticated cuisine, and a lot of places are following that format. And there's such a wonderful foundation, so much to draw upon, that it's pretty natural for a lot of chefs to get into. The energy is coming out of Durham and Chapel Hill. There are places like Piedmont, Vin Rouge, Rue Cler, and then smaller spots like Guglhupfs, a great bakery in Durham."

Bowerbirds' Mark Paulson on NC's Best Restaurants, Feasting with Bon Iver, Eater.com

CBS Sports - Why Duke?

"In college basketball's biggest rivalry, there's no gray area when choosing your shade of blue... except the people at ground zero of the rivalry -- the players. At least half the players on Duke's current roster gave serious consideration to UNC when they were choosing a college, and a similar number of Tar Heels pictured themselves playing home games at Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium... Duke players talked about the close relationship coach Mike Krzyzewski forged with them and the experience of watching a game at Cameron, but when it came to answering one question -- "Why Duke?" -- they tapped their chests instead of their heads."

Why Duke? For Blue Devils, it's all about business... and heart, CBS Sports

New York Times - Beverly McIver, "Raising Renee"

"WHEN she left North Carolina 23 years ago, Beverly McIver never imagined returning. Feisty, talented and ambitious, Ms. McIver was more than eager to shake off the warm clinches of her family and the chilly, intractable racism of the South... But in 2007, Ms. McIver, now 49, was lured from a tenured position at Arizona State University by North Carolina Central University, the historically black university where she had learned to paint. By then, her mother had died of cancer and left Ms. McIver with the care of Renee, a responsibility she assumed just as her career was taking off. “Raising Renee,” a documentary that will be shown on Feb. 22 on HBO, follows the sisters for six years, from Ms. McIver’s first New York City solo gallery show in 2003 to the day Renee, now 52, wakes up in her own apartment, a rather miraculous turn of events."

Painting on a New Canvas, New York Times

ESPN - Austin Rivers

"Freshman Austin Rivers has never been to a Duke-North Carolina game in person -- and thus, has never experienced the pregame hysteria, the midgame intensity, the postgame ear-ringing. But after years of watching the rivalry on television, of rewinding replays on YouTube, of seeing the highlights on "SportsCenter," the Blue Devils guard knows exactly what he has to do... Austin Rivers is one of several freshmen who could have an impact on the Duke-UNC game. "I'm going to have an impact." Bold prediction for a rookie? Perhaps. But in Wednesday's game at the Dean E. Smith Center (ESPN, 9 p.m. ET), the rookies who make an impact could make the difference, just as they have so many times in the past."

- Freshman play a key role in Duke-UNC, ESPN

Monday, February 6, 2012

The Rebel Yell - School House LLC

"What happens when a passionate person has a vision? They turn it into reality. Rachael Weeks is the founder and CEO of School House American Collegiate Craftsmanship. Weeks was a Trinity Scholar from Duke University then traveled to Sri Lanka as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar where she started to give life to her dream of owning an ethically manufactured clothing line. School House is just that. A socially responsible collegiate fashion brand based in Durham, N.C. The line made it’s debut here at UNLV and students can already be seen sporting the gear."

- School house: the newest collegiate clothing line, The Rebel Yell

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Yes! Weekly - DPAC

"Since opening in 2008, the Durham Performing Arts Center, or DPAC, has become the fourth highest grossing performing arts center in the nation, greatly benefiting downtown Durham, said United Arts Council of Greensboro President Tom Philion. When Brown was asked how much money a center could generate, he said it was easier to say how much Greensboro was losing to DPAC.

“DPAC has successfully captured the market,” said Philion, adding that around 6 percent of the Durham audience traveled from Greensboro. “A performing arts center is critical to this city remaining competitive whether you are talking about attracting employers or people looking at Greensboro as a place they want to live.”

In order to remain competitive, Brown said, it is more important to build a performing arts center quickly than where exactly it is constructed. “The longer we wait… we’re going to be embarrassed one day if we don’t have the facility,” he said."

- City exploring options for a performing arts center, Yes! Weekly

Perez Hilton - Kelly Clarkson @ DPAC

"No one can question that Kelly Clarkson has talent, but what continues to amaze us is how much she appreciates other people's music! Take for instance that at all over her concerts, she always manages to squeeze in a cover of an incredible song and give it her own personal twist. That's exactly what she did with this gorgeous song by Sara Bareilles called Gravity. Check out the video to watch Kelly croon her way through the somber song beautifully and with ease at a concert in Durham, NC!"

- Kelly Clarkson, This is Exquisite, Perez Hilton

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Bon Appetit - Durham Food Community

"Corks pop as the guests stream in. The chefs on hand are psyched for Lee's brash cooking, which mines the correspondences between Korean and Southern foods, redefining expectations along the way. Representing Durham are Phoebe Lawless, whose Scratch Baking has revitalized a deserted pedestrian street with scuppernong tarts and chocolate chess pies, and Matthew Kelly from the bistro Vin Rouge. From Kinston, North Carolina, is Vivian Howard of Chef & the Farmer and her sommelier husband, Benjamin Knight. Drew Brown from Farmhand Foods sells pasture-raised beef and pork to area restaurants and runs the Sausage Wagon food truck. And there's Sean Lilly Wilson, the upstart brewer at Fullsteam, who concocts "plow-to-pint" beers with Southern produce like sweet potatoes."

- One Rowdy Night in Carolina, Bon Appetit

Huffington Post - Duke Students

"Just over a week ago, a group of students and I who are part of the Coalition for a Conflict-Free Duke sent a video message to Tim Cook, Apple CEO and fellow Dukie, imploring him to create a conflict-free product by the end of 2013... In conjunction with the Change.org petition by Congolese activist Delly Mawazo Sesete, we hoped the video would pique Tim Cook's attention and help build a constituency demanding change, but we never guessed that Apple would publicly acknowledge our call to action... But a few days ago, I received a call on my iPhone from San Jose, Calif. It was Steve Dowling, Apple's spokesperson, telling me that had seen our video, heard our call for action, and said that Apple is very committed to going conflict-free."

- How I got Apple To 'Think Differently' - Huffington Post

In the Long Run - The Scrap Exchange

"Last week my husband and I visited a college friend down in Durham, NC. Being on vacation, I of course needed to check out the fabric stores at the places we were visiting. I came back with some good finds. Most of them came from a neat store in Durham, The Scrap Exchange. This store collects random stuff of all types and then sells it for use by crafters and artists. And by random stuff, I mean RANDOM! You want a 2008 calendar from a dentist office? Sure. Old wallpaper swatchbooks? Check. Miss-matched work boots? Yup. Empty glass test tubes? Got those too. All in a large warehouse space. But the icing on the cake? Bins full of fabric scraps, many of them about 1/4 yard, for 75 cents a piece."



- Recent Fabric Finds, In the Long Run