Spent the weekend w/ my best pal la in Bank of America, NC. I had a lot of time to think on my road trip, seeing as in-between towns seem to think that the less NPR brainwashing, er, programming, the better, and I suffered through intermittent assaults of Christian "rock," Christian sermonizing, Christian talk shows, and something called Contemporary R&B. Jeebus help us! Though at one point, as my local NPR station's quite significant reach futzed out, I was able to pick up a feed from Everything Baptist, NC, which had a wonderful program on MIT's FabLab on "Science Friday." Fascinating! [Friends, I know it is nigh impossible to listen to every archived recommendation one comes across on the vast and wide internets, but I really urge you to listen to this if you have either the inclination or the time. I'm not a science-y type, alas, and it had me in thrall. It makes one long for elasticity of mind and realize the importance of play and imagination in problem-solving.]
Pit-stopped in Furniture, NC, where gas prices are magically $.30 lower than where I live in Librul Oasis/Heathen, NC (depending on which side of the Jesse Helms divide you're on). Got stalled in traffic near NASCAR, NC, and -- wait for it -- Dale Earnhardt Drive. Of course, we have a Dale Earnhardt Drive! Why ever not! And then, finally, after having to slow down to a mere 75-mph, I arrived at my destination in time to go furniture shopping w/ my pal. By the way, if ever you're in Border Outlet Shopping Nexus, SC, known to many for their awesome water tower, I heartily recommend the Chili Relleno at Bronco Mexican Restaurant on the main drag. Gracias, amigos!
We spent Saturday in a quaint little town near BofA, NC, called Waxhaw, birthplace of Andrew Jackson. Who knew? I don't otherwise know enough about it to give it a nickname, but their Coffee Shack (?) makes a mean iced mocha. We had a grand time furniture shopping, mocha-drinking, and gallery prowling. As one is wont to do on glorious late fall days, we bought stuff! Maybe I'll take a pic later of my little monster yard art. When in Rome...
I don't have any pix of our jaunt, sadly, so I'll leave you instead w/ pix from a carnival in Prague, where my pal JM and my camera were for a few weeks in October.
There is a "Heathen, OH," too!
Posted by: David | Tuesday, 15 November 2005 at 06:59 AM
Love the place names, Ae! And those Czech sweets look seriously yummy...
Posted by: Laurelin | Tuesday, 15 November 2005 at 07:20 AM
Is it just me, or did anyone else find Neil Gershenfeld frustratingly oblique and fond of obscure references in his answers to Ira Flatow's questions about fab labs?
Don't get me wrong — i liked the segment — i just kept wishing Neil would talk a little more like a normal person so i could more easily understand what he was talking about.
Posted by: Ping | Tuesday, 15 November 2005 at 07:29 AM
Greetings from "Smoke-If-You-Got-Em," NC! One of the surprisingly few things I miss about my car is that its radio was able to pick up WUNC's signal. We have an NPR affiliate here but it's not as good as WUNC. When I lived 30 miles east of here in "Integrated-Lunch-Counters," NC, I could listen any time. My favorite is to listen to the BBC overnight feed. The 'sport' segments make me laugh hysterically; I'm not sure exactly why. Maybe it's the cricket scores.
Posted by: alphabitch | Wednesday, 16 November 2005 at 02:01 PM