Check It Out

Links to cool places or things.

There are 1,530 posts filed in Check It Out (this is page 142 of 153).

Cancer claims Jeff Healey

Just found out that legendary blind Canadian guitarist Jeff Healey died Sunday. He was just 41 years old. The retinoblastoma cancer that robbed him of his eyesight as an infant finally took his life.

I think Healey’s performance in Road House was the highlight of the whole cheesy film, but opinions vary.

He leaves behind a wife, 13-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son. Sad to hear he’s gone.

Here he is performing Angel Eyes (Rickroll-safe YouTube video). He had amazing talent.

Daylight No-savings Time?

WRAL Weathercenter’s Nate Johnson posted about daylight savings time, which goes into effect this Sunday. Ah, daylight savings time: one of my favorite whipping boys. If there’s one thing that raises my government-as-nanny hackles, daylight savings time is it.

Benjamin Franklin is credited with conceiving daylight savings time (DST) as a way to save on candles. While candles may have been all the rage in Poor Richard’s day, it may be safe to say that we use energy quite differently nowadays. The energy required to shift one’s biological clock to match clock time is quite expensive, too, but not so easily measured.
Continue reading →

Buy naming rights to “lake,” get a house thrown in for free

Craigslist frowns upon simply reposting one’s ad, so I had to get a little creative this morning.

Behold my new ad. Can you tell this whole moving business is making me a little punchy?

Naming rights to Raleigh’s Memorial Auditorium, the RBC Center, and Walnut Creek Amiptheatre have sold in the millions! Why break the bank when your name can be on your very own “lake” for a mere $229,900 – and get a charming house and a huge yard thrown in for free! It’s an unbeatable deal!!!!!11!!!1!

Continue reading →

Look up, its the moon

If you’re lucky to be reading this Wednesday night around 9:45-10:45 PM, step away from your computer and look up at the moon in the eastern sky as it slips into Earth’s shadow.

This eclipse is teh roxors.

Lunar eclipse Wednesday night

About 24 hours from now, we should be treated to a glorious lunar eclipse, provided the weather behaves. As of now clouds are expected tomorrow night, so it might not be ideal viewing weather. Either way it promises to be very windy, so if you do brave the night be sure to bundle up.

I remember taking Hallie to watch a lunar eclipse at Jordan Lake when she was little. I don’t remember if Travis was with us then or not. With a little luck, we’ll all get a view of a wonderous celestial event.

About the Sargasso Sea

When I posted the Cracker song Be My Love yesterday, I became curious about the Sargasso Sea. Being a sailor, I pride myself on knowing where various seas are but I’d never heard of this one. No wonder: the Sargasso Sea is the only sea without shores.
Continue reading →

Downtown makes me a TV star

On the way to the street to unload a coworker’s car a few moments ago, I got interviewed by WTVD reporter Tim Nelson about the drought and whether the city’s done an adequate job letting people know about Stage 2 restrictions taking effect tomorrow. He was asking if the city’s full-page ad about water restrictions was “buried” at the back of today’s the N&O’s business section. I basically told him you’d have to be under a rock if you didn’t know about the upcoming restrictions.
Continue reading →