Mark Turner Dot Net

I’ve been fortunate not to have to travel much lately but when I do I usually do it alone. I like to eat good meals when I travel as there is only so much fast food one can consume before losing one’s mind. Thus I’m often walking into restaurants as a party of one.

What many hosts and hostesses like to do is to park single customers at the bar. While I would rather not take up a 4-spot or 6-spot table with my lonesome, I find a bar seat to be a bit wanting.

When I’m eating alone in a new place, I like to spend my time absorbing the surroundings. A fly on the wall, if you will. Unfortunately, a lot of bars aren’t configured this way, making customers at the bar face a wall of glass and mirrors rather than the rest of the restaurant.

Restaurants that put the bar out in the open are the ones that get it right, at least for people-watching clientele like me.

At RDU airport two weeks ago I was taking Travis to the men’s room one last time before our flight. I know now that I was just starting a cold at the time, so my sense of smell might not have been at its peak, but I did a double-take when I smelled the hand soap I was putting on: it smelled like marijuana!

There was a guy in a nearby stall who could’ve been lighting up, but that would’ve be extremely unlikely. I checked and rechecked the smell of my just-washed hands and I’m convinced its the soap.

Next time you’re at the airport see for yourself. And avoid petting any K-9 units that might wander by.

Raleigh’s bigwig developer (and my office landlord) Greg Hatem got hitched this weekend to Samantha Smith. A huge group of people attended. My friends who were there pointed out that the wedding was a reunion of sorts of the staff of the N.C. State student newspaper, The Technician. Greg did a lot at the Technician.
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While I’m on the subject of newspapers, I’m such a media geek that I always tote home a copy of the area’s paper when I travel. I like to compare these papers to Raleigh’s.

I did the same in Milwaukee, and let me say how impressed I am with the quality of Milwaukee’s paper, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Journal Sentinel reporter Dave Umhoefer won a 2008 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting. From the story (emphasis mine):

Journal Sentinel Editor Martin Kaiser said the story reflected the newspaper’s commitment to local news, digging deep on important issues and making a difference in the community.

That’s what I’d like to see from our local paper. An unobtainable goal?

Once again, the Raleigh News and Observer has latched on to a story designed simply to whip its readers into a frenzy. Some poor fool in county government took trips on the public’s dime. While I don’t necessarily approve of his actions, is this really something worthy of stopping the presses?

The guy says he had approval for his trips, and he apparently did. He traveled around doing whatever a recycling program manager does. Frankly, I don’t know what a recycling program manager does but the guy claims it was all for business purposes. His boss agreed, and did so for five years. Maybe its just me, but I’m not quite ready to draw and quarter him.
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Yesterday’s post on the Raleigh Philosophical Society blog promotes the idea of putting City of Raleigh flags everywhere. It says that in a survey of 150 city flags, Raleigh’s ranked 56th. While that may sound good, the NAVA group which conducted the (unscientific) survey pointed out that two-thirds of city flags got 5 points or below on a scale from one to ten. Raleigh earned 4.48: middle of the road.

The post reminded me of my issues with Raleigh’s city flag, namely its ugly as sin. I would have personally ranked it lower than it was. As NAVA points out in Good Flag, Bad Flag, city seals shouldn’t appear on a flag. Nor should writing. Raleigh should rid both from its flag, in my opinion.

I think the city should redesign its flag, taking these issues into consideration. A well-designed, attractive flag would help the city forge a similar identity.

I just found out that comedian George Carlin died of a heart attack yesterday. What a shame. He was an incredibly clever, funny guy who could cut through all the BS in the world. Its not often you get comedy that makes you think but Carlin did that. I’m kicking myself for not going to see him the last time he played Raleigh.

In light of the family’s airline debacle, take a look at a Carlin routine that was appeared on my blog a year ago when Carlin takes apart airline announcements. Its masterful, hilarious, and like a lot of Carlin routines, not exactly safe for work.

I bet he’s already got a great routine on dying.

I’ve written before about Raleigh Police Chief Harry Dolan, being that he’s eight feet tall and is frequently seen towering over downtown buildings, waiting for Godzilla.

One thing I’ve noticed is that he’s frequently seen. Just like the beat cops under his command, he seems to work out of his car and not an office. So he’s likely to have a good idea about what goes on in the streets. That’s a fantastic trait in a police chief. I can see why he’s such a good leader.

Now if we could only get more pay for our officers . . .

The N&O sacked dozens of newsroom staffmembers today as parent company McClatchy wrestled with sagging revenues. There had been rumors that this would happen, so hopefully those affected had time to prepare.
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Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled that prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay have the right of habeas corpus, just like everyone else. The ruling doesn’t mean they go free, or that they’re squeaky clean for that matter. It means that charges against them must be proven before they can be locked up forever.
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