Friday, May 29, 2009
The Weekend Has Landed - May 29th
And here. We. Go.
*Friday night*
The Pin Projekt @ The Pinhook - This is the annual fund raising event that supports the Troika Music Festival. Local artists use old bowling pins as the endoskeleton for the application of their creative wiles. The pins are then auctioned off to the highest bidder. There will be a viewing session, along with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, starting at 6:30 PM at the Pinhook. The auction will begin at 8:00 PM, and then at 10:00 PM Cool Jonh Ferguson will heat up the joint with his special blend of blues, funk and R&B.
Poetry Reading @ Sound Pure - Cockeyed Press and Carolina Wren Press are presenting a poetry reading at Sound Pure, featuring four poets: Shirlette Ammons, Chris Tonelli, Andrea Selch and Karen Leona Anderson. The event starts at 7:00 PM, and admission is free. Hat tip to New Raleigh, which has more details here.
Durham Bulls vs. Buffalo Bisons - It's Friday Night Fireworks at the DBAP. The game is scheduled to start at 7:05 PM.
Live Music @ The Broad Street Cafe - Andrew Martin goes on at 8:00 PM, and is followed by P.M. Bulldozer. BSC's event site has more details.
*Saturday*
Thanks goes out to Bull City Rising for pointing out the next two events:
Downtown Durham Resource Fair & Picnic - A picnic with free food and live music, where a multitude of local community organizations will be present, looking to recruit some new volunteers. Here's your chance to help the community! The event runs from 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM at 403 E. Main St.
Five Points Palooza - The Blue Tailed Skinks will be setting up shop at Five Points to play some music and enjoy the weather, and encourage folks to come out and join them. They will be downtown from 7:00 PM - 'til. (craigslist events)
7th Annual Bull City Chili Challenge - The fine writers at Carpe Durham uncovered this gem, a CASI sanctioned chili cook-off. Show up at Durham Central Park at 11:00 AM to taste some salsa, or at 12:00 PM to taste the chili.
See No Weevil @ The Hat Lounge - Head over to the Hat Lounge in Northgate between 2:00 PM to listen to a trio performing an eclectic mix of blues and R&B. They will also be serving Pizza and Chips!
Durham Bulls vs. Buffalo Bisons - The second game of a back-to-back. Starts at 7:05 PM.
Live Music @ The Broad Street Cafe - Love N A Box at 8:00 PM, and Pagan Hellcats at 10:00 PM.
Black Bull: A Durham Cabaret @ The Pinhook - A first of its kind cabaret featuring a number of different local performers, starting at 10:00 PM. The Herald-Sun wrote an article on it, and here is another blogger's take.
*Sunday*
A Stuff Swap for SWOOP @ Traction HQ - Bring stuff you don't want, and trade it for stuff you do! Any stuff left at the end of the day is donated to Strong Women Organizing Outrageous Projects (SWOOP). It runs from 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM at 1018 Broad St. (traction)
Durham Bulls vs. Buffalo Bisons - It's Pepsi Kids Run the Bases night, and Lance Family Sunday (bring 3 Lance wrappers and get 2 tickets for the price of 1).
Whew. That's all for now, if you can make it to all of those events, color me impressed.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Trivia-ing!

Durham is a town filled with graduate students and over-educated workers of every ilk. You'd think that in a city like this, you'd be able to find a bar trivia night at every corner. Well, perhaps the bars realized it was a losing battle, because there are strikingly few throughout the "City of Medicine." My crack investigative journalism (calling about a dozen bars) was able to uncover the following trivia nights hosted in Durham bars:
1) James Joyce Irish Pub - Tuesdays @ 9:30pm
2) Bull McCabes Irish Pub - Wednesdays @ 9:00pm
3) Dain's Place - Wednesdays @ 8:15pm
Evidently, City Beverage and Alivia's used to have pretty great trivia nights, but both have discontinued that tradition.
I plan on testing out my knowledge of useless things next week. Anybody know of any other places that have trivia nights in Durham?
Drinking Liberally (Liberally Drinking?)

Thursday, May 28 (tonight) at 9:00pm
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Local Yogurt Now Open!

If you find yourself in the Rockwood Park area, Local Yogurt has now opened their doors for business. They're open relatively late, open until 9, 10 or 11 PM depending on the day of the week.
I walked over today and had the coffee flavored yogurt, with fresh bananas on top, which was delicious. I will definitely be back to sample the plethora of different flavor and topping combinations.
View The Durham Socialite Map in a larger map
Scenes from the Weekend
The surprise of the evening was I Was Totally Destroying It, who opened up for Lemming. Aside from faint name recognition, I had no expectations going in. What they did was put on a high energy show, with the band members smiling throughout the entire show. Socialite contributor D.Mann put it best when he stated that "their album is good, their live show is even better."
Saturday was A Taste of Durham, which I wasn't particularly impressed with. It was definitely more of a family minded event, and a number of the food vendors were from across the Triangle instead of being limited to Durham City/County, so it was a bit closer to A Taste of RTP. However, it was still a beautiful day, and trying out different foods and spirits was a pretty good way to spend an afternoon.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Lemming Malloy - Steampunk CD Release

If you're looking to take a musical adventure tonight, mosey on over to the CD release party at the Local 506 for Lemming Malloy's The Return of the Norfolk Regiment. Lemming Malloy is the latest collaboration of a number of local musicians, I've noted some of their other projects next to their names:
- Jay Cartwright (Felix Obelix, Eyes to Space)
- Joe Mazzitelli (I Was Totally Destroying It)
- Wendy Spitzer (Felix Obelix,The Physics of Meaning, The Gates of Beauty, Eyes to Space)
- Dylan Thurston (The Physics of Meaning, Eyes to Space)
Here is an article that the Independent Weekly did on the band, and here is their description by their record label.
Also playing at the venue tonight will be I Was Totally Destroying It and Gray Young.

Thursday, May 21, 2009
Canes v. Penguins Tonight - Where to Watch?

Tyler's Tap Room - American Tobacco Campus
Tyler's is a great place to go generally speaking. The food is great, the beer selection is amazing, and it's convenient and easy to get to being part of American Tobacco. They almost always have the game on, sometimes on the projection screen (though, the NBA games might be getting priority now).
Dain's Place - 9th Street
Dain's place is cozy and comfortable. Their burgers are great, the beer selection is nice, and many people enjoy the smoke-free environment. Last time myself and the other DurhamSocialite writers were there, they had some trouble with the DirecTV and couldn't get the game on. Hopefully that's been resolved.
Carolina Ale Houe - 3911 Durham Chapel Hill Blvd
The Carolina Ale House has a lackluster beer selection, mediocre food, and hit or miss service. But, it is always packed with Canes fans... so it's sometimes nice to watch a game. They will likely have it on a dozen different screens, both standard and high definition varieties, and on the main projector.
Satisfaction - Brightleaf
Nice place with a weird atmosphere. It won't be full of fans, but they'll happily turn the game on if you ask. Beer is cheap, food is decent, no real winners or losers here.
Check the parking lot to find our Canesmobile above and you'll know where we are. Anybody have any other suggestions for places? Let us know in the comments.
UPDATE: Six Plates Wine Bar on Irwin just tweeted that they would be playing the game as well.
Taste of Durham 2009

Being that it's Thursday afternoon, it's time to start thinking about the weekend. The marquee event this Saturday is the 2009 Taste of Durham.
Taste of Durham is a festival celebrating things we all love, including food, live music, entertainment and art. Here's the breakdown:
- The TROSA Band
- Johnnie Foster
- Cool John Ferguson
- Nufsed
- Alicia Grant
- Elmwood - A genre bending group from Nashville, combining the sounds of jazz, Caribbean, bluegrass and funk.
- John Brown and the Groove Shop Band - This group has a full horn section, full rythm section, and multiple singers, creating a powerful sound of funk, rhythm and blues.
- Locos Por Juana - Heralded as "Miami's Best Latin Band"
- Salsa 4 U
- Inis Cairde School of Irish Dance
- Mambo Dinamico Dance Company/Cobo Brothers
- Jack Wolf: Cajan & Creole Fun
- Hannan Sultan Bellydance
- Flamenco Carolina
- Singing for Everyone
- NC Triangle Steppers Chicago Style Steppin Demonstration
- International Dance Connection/Polynesia
- Baba Ghannouj Mediterranean Bistro
- Bocci Trattoria & Pizzeria
- Don Rio's Southwest Catering
- Carmen's Cuban Cafe & Lounge
- Catering: Abrams' BBQ & Seafood
- Cold Stone Creamery
- Joe Van Gogh, Inc.
- The Mad Popper
- The Melting Pot
- Moe's Southwest Grill
- Nikos Taverna
- Noodles & Company
- Pomodoro Italian Kitchen
- Rita's
- Serena Restaurant & Bar
- Tamarind India Bistro
- Vita
- Too Much Fun Zone - will feature a carousel, among other rides
- Snow My Yard - making snow and ice scupltures
- Singing for Everyone - sing-a-long session
- Face Painting
- Traditional India Henna Painting
- Funtastic Faces Characture
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Benefit Concert Tonight @ Pinhook [Drinking for Charity]

The benefit will feature two local bands, Regina Hexaphone and The Tin Star. Doors open at 6:30pm and there is no cover!
Monday, May 18, 2009
'Canes and Community

There's a great post over at New Raleigh about how the Hurricanes have grown and flourished along with the area, and how they help to put our region on the map.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Carolina Rollergirls

Tonight I made the trek out to Raleigh to attend this month's Carolina Rollergirls bout. For those that aren't familiar with this wonderful sport, check out the wiki page. Carolina fields two talented teams for national competition, the Carolina All-Stars and the Carolina Bootleggers. They play in the historic Dorton Arena, and have bouts approximately once a month.
Being your average male who loves both women and full contact sports, these events are a must-see. Their next home bout is June 6th. I've you've never been, check it out, you won't be disappointed.

Thursday, May 14, 2009
No Landscapes! No Flowers! - The Art of Jason Strutz and Franco

Jason Strutz illustrates stories that do and do not exist. Both memories and nightmares come alive on his canvases. His works are more than art, but adventure by oil and acrylics.Franco's work is a illustration of american urban realism executed with a digital medium. Much of his work deals with class and race issues. Many of his thought-provoking images center around the iconic fist hair pick symbolizing the ‘70’s theme of peace, love, and revolution.
- Jason Strutz (http://www.strutzillustration.com/)
- Franco (http://www.francoproject.com/)
Friday Art Invastion

Keen observers will notice no less than six art-related events happening in Durham this Friday night, many as part of Third Friday Durham. These range from small shows to full-fledged openings of new galleries. Here is an overview:
LabourLove Gallery Opening
807 E. Main Street ~ 6 - 9pm
LabourLove is a new gallery opening in the Golden Belt. Golden Belt is a newly rennovated textile mill in downtown that "draws a dense arts energy to downtown Durham with artist studios, live/work loft apartments, offices, restaurants, retail, live music and more." LabourLove will be having their grand opening on Friday and will be featuring the work of 3 new artists:
On May 15, LLG will open the doors of its sleek 1,800 square foot space to the public. The grand opening, in conjunction with additional Third Friday festivities, promises to be a lively celebration of the arts. The first fifty guests will receive a free, limited-edition Giclée art print and for $30, patrons can create eco‐friendly, custom t-shirts featuring works by the opening artists. The renowned Only Burger and Sabor taco trucks and the lauded Daisy Cakes desserts will delight the hungry and home brew master Jason Salemme will treat the crowds to a sampling of his award‐winning Scottish Ale and Stout beers. To complete the evening, the “hot pickin’, sweet singin’, good lookin’ bluegrass band”—the Cadillac Stepbacks—will fill the Golden Belt courtyard with tight vocal harmonies, fast instrumentals, and their own blend of energy.Art Hanging at Kung Fu Tattoo
--Press Release (PDF)
1003 W. Chapel Hill St. ~ 7 - 10pm
Kung Fu Tattoo will be displaying the art of two talented illustrators, Jason Strutz and Franco. You can check out some samples of some of their work at the Kung Fu Tattoo blog. Rumor has it that there will be free beer, free food, and free drinks. Durham Socialite writer DBL will be attending this event.
Other Art Events
See calendar for more details
- Watercolor paintings by Freeman Beard @ Bull City Art & Frame Company (905 W. Main St.)
- Porcalian and stoneware by Kelly O'Briant and L.T. Hoisington @ Claymakers (705 Foster Street)
- Paintings by Jeff Mahorney @ Bull City Arts Collaborative (401-B1 Foster Street)
- Short documentary films @ Durham Arts Council PSI Theater (120 Morris St)
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Images from Game 6 Canes/Bruins
Beautiful Durham

Free Summer Concerts in the Triangle
T-minus 1 month until pools are open

Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Attending a Carolina Hurricanes Game
In case you haven't heard, the Carolina Hurricanes are in the NHL playoffs.
While this is admittedly not exclusively about Durham, it is an exciting time for everyone living in the "Durham-Raleigh" area. Besides, it has been appearing on the calendar a lot lately as the Hurricanes progress through the playoffs. As a newbie to the sport myself (other socialite writers got me into the game this past fall) I thought it would be nice to offer a primer for those interested in going to a game.
1. Tickets
I recommend the box office at the RBC Center. They are cheaper because you don't have to pay the Ticketmaster tax, and you can pick your individual seats, not just sections. Also, Duke University employees get a discount.
2. What to wear
Most people wear jerseys. You can get some good deals at www.hockeyattire.com, but the most important thing is just to wear the team colors (red, black, and white).
3. The Day of the Game
Enter the RBC Center from the south off of Trinity Rd. This is much easier to get into and out of, and this is where all the tailgating is. Parking is $10 cash.
Tailgating does occur before the games. We recommend the Durham Socialite Recession Tailgating Package:
- Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
- Tortilla chips (in the sandwich or on the side, your choice) and salsa
- Miller High Life