Check It Out

Links to cool places or things.

There are 1,530 posts filed in Check It Out (this is page 106 of 153).

Obama at N.C. State

Obama visits N.C. State


Well, any doubt I had about enthusiasm for Obama was answered today when Obama spoke in N.C. State’s Reynolds Coliseum. Actually, those doubts were allayed yesterday when I saw thousands of people waiting to get tickets for today’s speech.

I drove to N.C. State’s McKimmon Center around 9:30 and soon ran into my friend Alan Porter and his daughter, Audrey. We rode the shuttle to campus and waited in line together. Audrey was a wonderful companion, talking with me the whole time. I know she and my daughter Hallie would hit it off.
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Solar pioneers needed

Photo by Gray Watson


I got this email from a organization I signed up for, One Block Off The Grid. It seems Raleigh is only 67 homes short of qualifying for this program of group-purchases of solar panels.

If you’re interested in going solar, sign up at One Block Off The Grid and let’s close the gap!

Hi Mark,

Our national campaign for solar is going strong! So far, 2,198 counties in the U.S. have active group deals on solar available and hundreds of homeowners have received free solar roof evaluations in 40 different states. There are still 943 U.S. counties, though, where the group deal on solar hasn’t tipped yet.
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Job creation reminder at the NCGA

Since I don’t have a job I thought I would head over to the North Carolina General Assembly and remind the bozos in charge that their job is to create jobs. Shawn Rocco of the N&O snapped my picture.

How does this get me a job?

I might not have a job yet but at least my marriage is now safer from teh gays.

Update 9:39 AM Tuesday: My photo ran prominently at the top of page 6A of today’s paper. Maybe I’ll get my question answered, after all!

In all seriousness, I really, really do want the NCGA leadership to explain what this issue has to do with creating jobs. And they were wise not to take public comment yesterday because I would’ve given them an earful. My expression in this photo is one of legitimate frustration.

Ted Cassidy

The kids have discovered the Addams Family TV show courtesy of Netflix. I forgot how good the writing is on this show, and the humorous, amorous interaction between Gomez and Morticia.

While the show is full of great comedy actors, the star of the show in my opinion is Lurch, played by Ted Cassidy. Cassidy has the fewest lines in the show yet he manages to steal every scene he’s in. His timing is perfect. I love the way Lurch simply turns away from Gomez when he doesn’t want to do something.

Cassidy also played Thing in the show. He went on to play memorable roles in other TV shows and do voiceover work until his untimely death in 1979.

Point Roberts – America’s most exclusive “gated community”

I just hung up our new map of the San Juan Islands and became curious about a little sliver of America at the end of a peninsula that’s otherwise Canadian: Point Roberts, Washington. It’s one of a handful of quirky American places that aren’t connected by land to the continental United States. I’d like to check it out someday!

Point Roberts (known locally as “Point Bob” or “The Point”) is an unincorporated community in Whatcom County, Washington, United States. It has a post office, with the ZIP code of 98281,[2] whose ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) had a population of 1,314 at the 2010 census.

A geopolitical oddity, Point Roberts is a part of the United States (that is not an island) that is not physically connected to it, making it a pene-exclave of the U.S. It is located on the southernmost tip of the Tsawwassen Peninsula, south of Delta, British Columbia, Canada, and can be reached by land from the rest of the United States only by traveling through Canada. It can be reached directly from the rest of Washington and the U.S. by crossing Boundary Bay by sea or air.

via Point Roberts, Washington – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Hasher run through Raleigh

Tonight a neighbor sent an email to the CAC list, alerting our neighbors to unusual activity. People were running through the neighborhood but they weren’t up to no good and the cops (as far as I know) weren’t chasing them.What were they up to? They are “hashers” on a hasher run, an activity that combines drinking and running.

My neighbor describes it as:

an extreme fun-run club that chases a ‘hare’ thru odd locations and they started their run at the Oakwood Dog Park tonite.

Some clubs describe themselves as “a drinking club with a running problem.”
It sounds like my kind of running club! According to The Wikipedia:

At a Hash, one or more members (Hares) lay a trail, which is then followed by the remainder of the group (the Pack or Hounds). The trail often includes false trails, short cuts, dead ends, and splits. These features are designed to keep the pack together regardless of fitness level or running speed, as front-runners are forced to slow down to find the “true” trail, allowing stragglers to catch up.

Apparently, hashers are given nicknames, many of which are bawdy.

If you’d like to engage in this irreverent foolishness, sign up with Carolina Larrikins Hash House Harriers or find another group near you!

Dumb crook of the year

The Brainiac Burglar


I had to laugh when I saw this dumb crook had been arrested. He’s possibly the dumbest crook of the year. Walter Lee Martin, Jr. was arrested for breaking into the North Carolina Museum of Art, but not because he couldn’t get tickets to the latest touring exhibit. And Martin wasn’t intent on stealing the millions of dollars of art that adorn the museum’s walls. No, Martin allegedly broke in because he wanted to steal scrap metal.

I suppose Martin never visited the museum. If he had, he would’ve noted that it’s covered with video cameras and has its own armed security force that guard the museum day and night. He might as well have tried breaking into a police station.

Thigh volumes affecting trash pickup!

Just got this from Raleigh’s Solid Waste Services Department:

“Collection Update: The following YARD WASTE routes were not completed due to thigh volumes: NE4 NE10”

I know many Americans struggle with obesity but I had no idea it has gotten this bad!

Iceland’s On-going Revolution

In 2003 Iceland’s debt was equal to 200 times its GNP, but in 2007, it was 900 percent. The 2008 world financial crisis was the coup de grace. The three main Icelandic banks, Landbanki, Kapthing and Glitnir, went belly up and were nationalized, while the Kroner lost 85% of its value with respect to the Euro. At the end of the year Iceland declared bankruptcy.

Contrary to what could be expected, the crisis resulted in Icelanders recovering their sovereign rights, through a process of direct participatory democracy that eventually led to a new Constitution. But only after much pain.

What happened next was extraordinary. The belief that citizens had to pay for the mistakes of a financial monopoly, that an entire nation must be taxed to pay off private debts was shattered, transforming the relationship between citizens and their political institutions and eventually driving Iceland’s leaders to the side of their constituents. The Head of State, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, refused to ratify the law that would have made Iceland’s citizens responsible for its bankers’ debts, and accepted calls for a referendum.

via Daily Kos: Iceland’s On-going Revolution.