Ginny from the Blog

You could “save zillions” by clipping newspapers in the Sunday News & Observer. That’s according to an ad I spotted on the newspaper’s website today. I actually subscribe to the Sunday paper, and I’ve only saved a few dollars here and there. I must be doing it wrong.

I ate dinner at The Borough last night, and saw Raleigh’s new downtown circulator bus (called the “R Line”) drive past the restaurant at least four times. So we decided to climb aboard and check out the route for this new, free service.

The hybrid, electric bus service launched Friday and allows residents to take a free ride to various stops downtown.

We waited at the “R” stop for a few minutes last night, but it was quite cold. So we stepped back into the Borough and watched the stop from the door. We didn’t get out the door fast enough to catch the R bus when it made its rounds again, so we chased after it, with no luck.

On the drive home, we got a little goofy and decided to create some improv theme songs for the new bus service. For the record, we both know we’re not good singers. We strung together about six or seven possible themes, but I’ve only posted two for you. If you make it through this entire video, then you deserve a cookie.

The photos in the video were taken by Leo who runs the fabulous Raleigh Connoisseur blog.

Have you taken the R Line yet? It has recieved some positive reviews on the Raleigh Philosophical Society blog. I think the bus line will be a handy service that will help downtown Raleigh’s efforts to grow.

If you want to try your hand at creating a theme song for the R Line, feel free to send me a video clip or use the Seesmic plugin in the comments section.

I left the Triangle for a few days, and while I’m happy to be back, I’m also craving another trip.

So please help me and other GFTB readers figure out some nearby getaways. What are some places worth visiting within a 90-minute radius of the Triangle? Because as much as I loved spending the weekend on Hilton Head Island, I did not enjoy the drive (although the company was superior).

Are there particular places worth gassing up my VW and heading to on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon? Bonus points for multiple suggestions along the same route. With springlike temperatures already flirting with us, I know I’ll need another break soon.

Suggestions please.

I spotted this sign outside Eastway Elementary School in Durham. It was posted just outside the school where parents let their kids out of the car. Very sweet.

In these sucky economic times, we all need to find ways to laugh. Lucky for us Triangle residents, the 2009 North Carolina Comedy Arts Festival starts tomorrow. You may be more familiar with the festival under its former name, the Dirty South Improv Festival, but organizers have changed its name this year.

The festival is hosted by DSI Comedy Theater and is one of the largest comedy events in the country (and it’s cheap to attend, with tickets ranging from $7 to $10). The shows are spread out among various venues in Carrboro. It’s a two week festival, with Feb. 12-15 focusing on stand-up comedy and Feb. 18-21 focusing on improv, according to a press release I read today.

You can find the full schedule and ticket prices here.

I went last year and found the improv show to be worth the $10 ticket (and was excited to see they served beer).

Here’s some advice stemming from my experience last year:

* Try to buy your ticket in advance to save a couple bucks.

* If the show you’re seeing is at the DSI Theater (as opposed to one of the easier to find venues in the festival), leave early. It can be tricky to find.

* If you want to imbibe a little during the show, buy two beers at the beginning and keep the extra at your seat.

The festival gives Carrboro a boost too, according to organizer Zach Ward:

“NCCAF has grown exponentially since 2001. As a producer, it’s exciting to move forward, partnering with RooftopComedy to offer an opportunity like Aspen for the stand-up comics coming to North Carolina. Local leaders have started to take notice of DSI and the NCCAF as contributors to area economic development. In 2008, the NCCAF raised the population of Carrboro by 4% for a week and generated $150,000 in spillover spending for the downtown business community.”

The event website has a comprehensive list of all the performers, so you can learn a little about who you’ll be seeing in advance.

If you go, let me know what you think.

If you’re on Twitter, you’ve probably read something about the Raleigh Twestival. Details about it have been leaking out under the hashtag #RalTwestival for some time. Here’s what you need to know and why you should go.

What’s the point of Raleigh Twestival?

The Raleigh Twestival is the Triangle’s version of a fundraising event that will be hosted on the same night by Twitter communities in appx. 160 cities worldwide. The goal is to raise money for “Charity: Water” an organization that works to provide access to clean water in developing nations.

When and Where?

The party/fundraiser is from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday Feb. 12 at Edge Office in downtown Raleigh. This is the same cool space where we had the 30THREADS launch party and the most recent Triangle Tweetup.

What will the fundraiser be like?

Um, super fun! Among the highlights:

* The new Raleigh brewery Lonerider Brewing Company will be pouring its hefeweizen, Shotgun Betty, which must be pretty good b/c it received a favorable review on always-picky New Raleigh.

* A video booth where you can record a message to be posted on MyNC and the Twestival blog.

* A silent auction/raffle that includes items from local social media firms, giftcards, and a cute handcrafted Twitter necklace that I made especially for the event.

* A chance to socialize with all the Triangle Tweeps you’ve been following online, but missed at the Triangle Tweetup.

How much are tickets?

Tickets are $11.40 if you buy them in advance or $14 if you buy them at the door. All of the proceeds go to “Charity: Water.” If you can’t attend, but still want to show your support, you can make a $5 donation (or more) via the Raleigh Twestival website.

But I just went to the Triangle Tweetup two weeks ago, why should I pay to go to this?

The Triangle Twitter community has grown a lot in the past two years. It includes people of all different ages, professions, backgrounds and more. Tweetups usually have presentations and not enough time to socialize. This entire event will be a chance for you to socialize and network with all those new tweeps who you didn’t have time to meet recently. All the money goes to charity and it includes beer and food, so really it’s a great bargain.

I think Twitter sounds stupid, should I go anyway?

Absolutely. While this event is targeted toward people who already use Twitter, it’s not exclusively for Twitter users. So consider attending to meet an interesting cross-section of Triangle residents who appreciate the Internet (this does not mean we’re all geeks who blog in our pajamas). Also, this is a great event where single women can meet men and vice versa (so say my single Twitter friends). You may even leave the event convinced that you should join Twitter before it turns into the MySpace of the Internet.

I’m @GinnySkal, and this was your public service announcement about Twitter and Charity: Water. For more details, follow @RalTwestival on Twitter. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments section and I’ll try to get additional information to you.

I love journalism. So I defend the craft as often as I can, particularly local journalism. As a former reporter for the Durham Herald-Sun, however, I’ve heard countless times that local media only focuses on crime stories in Durham. This, of course, isn’t entirely true.

Still, the Bull City doesn’t seem to get as much positive press as its Triangle siblings. That’s just an observation, of course. I’ve never charted out all the local media coverage. If someone wants to take the time to do that and share the results, I’d love to publish that on my blog.

Meanwhile, here’s a screenshot from today’s News & Observer’s Durham news section. This is probably why Durham residents feel cheated out of positive local coverage. There are six crime stories, and one story about a proposed bill that could help reduce crime:

By no means am I saying the media should ignore crime news. And I’m sure if you dig around on the N&O’s website you can find some happier Durham stories. But this caught my eye this morning and I had to share it with you all.

Do you think the local media provides well-rounded Durham coverage?

I wanted to clue you in to some events happening around the Triangle this weekend. Because sometimes we just need something different to do.

1. First Friday is tonight in downtown Raleigh. Here’s a list of participating galleries.

2. Watch people run two miles, down a dozen Krispy Kremes and then run a dozen miles back all for charity. The Krispy Kreme Challenge starts at the N.C. State belltower on Saturday morning, but I recommend watching it from Krispy Kreme on Peace Street, where the runners will be eating and puking.

3. See the circus. Ringling Bros. is in town.

4.Get your passport. You need to have one now to travel anywhere outside the United States. Durham is hosting a passport fair from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at its post office downtown.

5. Celebrate Bob Marley’s birthday. There will be a tribute to him at Cat’s Cradle on Saturday night.

6. Buy some used furniture. The Junior Women’s Club of Raleigh is hosting its annual furniture consignment sale at 1 p.m. Sunday at the State Fairgrounds.

A lot has changed in downtown Durham since 2004. The nearly-complete Durham Station Transportation Center is just another gleaming example of the transformation happening downtown.

Back in 2004, the glass-encased building had not even been sketched by an architect. The site the new bus station now occupies on Chapel Hill Street used to be the home to the dilapidated Heart of Durham motel. The motel, built in the late 1960s, was once a cool place to stay. But after it turned seedy after it changed ownership, reports Endangered Durham. The motel sat empty for about 12 years before it was condemned by the city and seized through eminent domain. The city later bought the property to house a new bus station.

On Sept. 30, 2004, the city staged a cheesy demolition ceremony. Here’s the lead I wrote for the event (which had the theme “Jump Start the Heart”) when I worked for the Herald-Sun:

Three firefighters armed with a heart defibrillator dashed through the parking lot of a dilapidated downtown motel Thursday, but they weren’t there to rescue anyone. Instead, they used the device to jump start changes at the Heart of Durham motel, releasing a large, heart-shaped balloon into the sky. The scene was part of a city demolition ceremony that was more symbolic than destructive.

By February 2005, the site was cleared and designs for Durham Station were complete. At the time, the transportation hub was expected to cost $15.3 million, but that price has since climbed to $17.6 million, the N&O reports.

But the new building is probably worth the wait for DATA bus riders. Here’s how N&O transportation guru Bruce Siceloff recently described the current bus station:

The transfer center is crowded, littered and chaotic. Its unisex toilet is filthy and seatless. … The buses are packed headlight-to-taillight at the curb, so they cannot come and go according to their timetables. Ready or not, each driver begins a new circuit through town when the bus at the head of the line starts rolling.

Here’s a sneak peak of the lobby of the new center:

And, as you can see, there are plenty of terminals where the buses can line up:

It’s a shame that the planned February opening has been pushed back to March so the city can tackle some nearby street improvements required by the NCDOT. But when it opens, we can all look back on the Heart of Durham days and realize just how far downtown has come (even if it took more than four years).

Here’s some footage from the animals being unloaded for the circus last night: