Having attended the Old Fiddler’s Convention in Galax, VA a couple of times I am looking forward to seeing how Raleigh takes on the task of opening our doors to an additional 16,000 people that may be in attendance. This should have downtown packed for the better part of a week. I am also curious to see who shows up – this is a large event and I’m sure a lot of people like myself will be interested in seeing what’s going on and venturing into the crowd. I might be wrong but I am guessing this will be entertaining if you just go to people watch and wander through the crowd.

So here we go – I hope we get it right. The only question now is which is the bigger event – the NHL All-Star game, NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs or the World Bluegrass Festival. Or am I missing another large event that came to Raleigh? Let me know what you think and I’ll post the Fiddler’s Convention pics tonight.

UPDATE - Pictures of the Galax Fiddler’s Convention added after the jump. BobG made an excellent correction to this post – I meant to say the biggest event after St. Patrick’s Day. All apologies.

Put your suggestions in the comments and we’ll see what we can do.  I might throw a cam or two up on USTREAM if we can find an interesting subject.

The cam is currently showing a reflection of itself from the window – any ideas on how to make that stop?

The new movie is likely the best effort from Cohen yet. It is still more off-color than you would want to watch with your in-laws – ask Cara about a post-Thanksgiving lunch Borat.

The heroic story of a dictator who risks his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed.

They forgot to mention a really odd birth scene with a lost cell phone and gratuitous female body hair and male nudity. Sound like your cup of tea? Then this movie is worth seeing but if you want to save a little cash waiting for it to come out on video you’ll survive.

So I think this set is pretty cool and I would buy it if it landed in the store – it only needs 2,338 more votes. So go vote. I mean – unless you have a problem with 99 Storm Troopers sharing a bucket.  Yes – this means you – go vote for the Dark Bucket. You’ll need to create an account but that will be useful as I plan to encourage more voting in the future.

If nothing else this will let you vote for something you like and you’ll have the opportunity to get something cool when voting is over.

A couple of interesting things you may not know when you go to vote tomorrow.  The first version of the North Carolina constitution was ratified in 1776. Until 1836, the General Assembly members were the only state officials who were elected by the people. The General Assembly picked Judges, the Governor and the members in the Council of State. The Constitution was rewritten in 1868 giving the Governor and the people more power in the state. The current Constitution was written in 1971 and has over 20 Amendments. (Including: prohibiting all capitation and poll tax, allowing the Governor and Lieutenant Governor to serve two consecutive terms, requiring the state run a balanced budget, adding Victims Rights to the Declaration of Rights, and giving the Governor the veto power among others.)

The people of North Carolina have treated their constitution with conservatism and respect. The fact that we have adopted only three constitutions in over two centuries of existence as a state is the chief evidence of that attitude (some states have adopted as many as five or ten constitutions in a like period). The relatively small number of amendments, even in recent years, is another point of contrast to many states. It reflects the fact that North Carolina has been less disposed than have many states to write into its state constitution detailed provisions dealing with transitory or topical matters better left to legislation. The constitution has allowed the General Assembly wide latitude for decision on public affairs. Legislators consequently have been willing to accept responsibility for and act on matters within their authority instead of passing the responsibility for difficult decisions on to the voters in the form of constitutional amendments. [From Democracy’s living roots: North Carolina and its State Constitution]

I know – the decision you make on how you vote needs to be your own. I posted this not to change you mind but to give you a little perspective on the NC Constitution and how we’ve used it over the years. The most important part is that you vote – the system works best when people participate. It is probably important that you figure out who is on your ballot and even if you don’t know who to vote for in every race go and feel free to leave a couple of spaces blank.

We, the people of the State of North Carolina, grateful to Almighty God, the Sovereign Ruler of Nations, for the preservation of the American Union and the existence of our civil, political and religious liberties, and acknowledging our dependence upon Him for the continuance of those blessings to us and our posterity, do, for the more certain security thereof and for the better government of this State, ordain and establish this Constitution. [Preamble: NC Constitution]

Great deal? Really depends on how you value Italian pottery. Me? I just renamed Randy to Mario – here I come eBay!

One of my favorite things at the sale was this sign – PERFECT for wedding gifts! Mix & Match! SLIGHTLY FLAWED

For some reason the idea of presenting something as both PERFECT and SLIGHTLY FLAWED seems well ironic. Throw in the idea of a wedding gift and well… irony be damned – they nailed it.

Overall the trip wasn’t terrible. No – it wasn’t a trip to the Lego store but it was very interesting to see the warehouse and all the unique pottery and tableware. More pictures after the jump – I would suggest this as a day trip when they are having the warehouse sale – even if you don’t want to purchase anything.

Play this – LOUDLY. It is probably the closest I’ve seen to a real launch.  Thanks BobG for sharing. If you’ve never seen a launch this will get you close – if you have seen a launch this should bring back some good memories. Enjoy.

This event went from – I bought tickets for what??? to nearly epic in a fairly short span of time. I’m not sure how that happens but for us the letters V-I-P are usually involved. And yes – a couple of us were speaking Latin by the end of the night. What went on exactly?

This voicemail might make things a little clearer…

We also popped into an Indian wedding. Almost had a kitchen tour. Saw someone get kicked out of the VIP section. And had an all around great time at what might be one of the best new events in town – if they fix that little line problem they had.

And probably the least important piece – I sampled several IPAs and have a whole new appreciation for that style of beer. Thanks to Shop Local Raleigh for hosting Brewgaloo and the local breweries – Aviator, Natty Greene’s, Big Boss, Carolina Brewing, Sub Rosa, Mash House, Carolina Brewery, Bull City, Fullsteam, Deep River Brewing, Steel String, Roth, Mystery Brewing, Lonerider, and Fortnight for sharing beer till the well ran dry. A few more pictures after the jump.

I was surprised by the security at the movie – they made us take all our phones and “anything with a switch” to the car. Sorry dude with a pacemaker – you can’t watch. I guess they had concerns about photos or video leaking. I don’t think that would make you want to see the movie less if I had a couple of cool teaser photos. We stayed till after the credits and saw the individual behind the war (no – this doesn’t spoil anything) and I had no idea who he was – he kinda looked like something out of the Green Lantern movie that was terrible. A little internet snooping leads me to believe he is Thanos. Unfortunately this means very little to me. Maybe someone reading this can enlighten me as to what the significance is of this character. And yes – if it does mean something that is probably a spoiler. Sorry.

So bottom line – go see the movie. It is a good combo of action and comedy. If you miss a couple of inside jokes it won’t hurt and if you’ve missed a couple of the previous movies you won’t be a t too much of a loss either.

So why am I posting about ancient history? Looks like it is going to happen again – at least the free concert part. Not sure about whether or not you can bring your own beer and I guess the hangover was always optional. (Update: Nope on the alcohol.) Dates look like Thursday nights starting May 31st. Other announced dates include June 14th, June 28th, July 12th, July 26th, August 9th, and August 23rd. No acts have been announced yet but the seven shows will feature three bands, spanning genres from indie rock to bluegrass. They are calling it the Oak City 7 – I am guessing because there are 7 concerts and AAF probably belongs to another decade.

After the jump I have some random pictures from the last few Alive After Five concerts from 2005. These include some random shots at the events, after parties at Woody’s and El Rodeo and most importantly – chicken ‘n waffles. If these don’t make you want to go to the new shows they’ll definitely make you want to stay home. See you there.

After that? Nothing

There was nothing left to do.

After the jump and random pics throughout the day.  A few pics at the end of the back yard and everything coming back for Spring.

I’m sure I’ll run across more in the coming weeks but these were begging for their own post. So here are a few more – relaxing, eating stone crabs and generally goofing off.

While it is usually difficult to do it is always fun to be in a museum in the middle of the night. The Nature Research Center is likely going to have a full house today but this morning it was relatively quiet with less than 50 or so people wondering the displays.

This is a great hands on museum and I look forward to going back once it is open (and we are a little more awake) to explore. The “death star” is pretty amazing both inside and out.

More pictures after the jump – if you are out and about in Raleigh today it is definitely worth stopping in.

The NASA display on the fourth floor wasn’t open while we were there. That means a return trip is happening and hopefully soon.

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