What they are watching... Episode IX

Our look at what the teens and tweens of America are watching. You may have caught some of our earlier episodes, if not follow this link and [scroll down].

This was the theme song to the popular 1990's Nickledeon variety show, All That. It is now part of the on-going revival of 1990's culture among today's youth. The song is performed by TLC, Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas.

Things that need to invented, part V

We are reviving our long dormant and long overdue, "Things that need to be invented" column, hopefully heretoforth to once again be published monthly. Your brilliant suggestions are encouraged, read the other folks sweet invention ideas here [scroll down below this post]. We are so confident about the volume of your forthcoming submissions that we are kicking things back off with a triple shot of invent this.

The first thing in this month's column that needs to be invented is a cheaper electric riding lawnmower. Gas powered lawnmowers are so bad for the environment. On top of their deleterious effect on air quality and the noise pollution, they are woefully inefficient and resource wasting. We are going whole hog with the electric and hybrid cars things, why can't somebody get on it for the lawnmower market? They are quieter, way less polluting and way more fuel efficient. We could not find one cheaper than two grand. Surely they can beat that with a little more mass production. Maybe we can get a government tax credit for buying an electric lawnmower?

The next thing we would like to see invented is for Major League baseball to put its entire back catalog of game telecasts on-line. Let us, the fans, be able to look up any game, any time and stream it on-line. We would pay for this. And we are not just talking this year's game, but the historical back catalog. Think how many games diehards would watch? And if this project sounds fanciful, try to remember that just a few short years ago the idea of digitizing your entire music library to something the size of laptop, let alone i-pod, was the stuff of dreams. What an argument resolver! Want to know who was pitching in the pine tire game? Or where the use of middle relievers really started? Stream one Yankees-Royal game, stream an entire A's or White Sox season. MLB you can be America's game again, start here.

And finally in the sub-category of needs to be invented known as their needs to be an app for that... (And nobody on the Clarion Content's staff has an i-phone so please alert us if their already is an app for this...) The Craigslist Missed Connection application! Just walked by that beautiful girl or that cute guy in the coffee shop or bookstore without saying anything and regretting it already? Voilà, an instant Craiglist Missed Connection post. In era where texting and IMing are ubiquitous and conversation subsuming, what could be better than instantaneously being able to anonymously record on-line that you wish you would have talked to thus and such hottie?

Thank you and good night. We will return same time, same place next month. Send us your feedback and your brilliant invention suggestions.

The Counting Crows rock Cary

Counting Crows front man, Adam Duritz

The Counting Crows rocked Cary, NC last night in a show that ranged from funky, to funny, to poignant. The band delighted the mixed aged crowd. Teeny boppers were most excited when the Counting Crows touring partners Augustana took the stage.

In an interesting departure from the norm rather than having Augustana stictly open the show, The Counting Crows alternated mini-sets of three to four songs with Augustana. This created some frustration amongst older fans who bellowed for the Crows to come back. Augustana's lead singer, Dan Layus, handled the situation with adroit humor. "We just work here man, and if Adam Duritz, tells us to play three songs, we play three songs." The bands played together for a sweet Dylan cover and an off-beat, fun Beatles medley encore.

The Clarion Content's correspondent also enjoyed rapper, Notar. He was a cool, high energy, counterpoint to the Counting Crows style. He provided one of the poignant, touching moments of the evening when he dedicated one of his funky 311-style hip-hop jams to his aunt who had passed away the previous night. A stylish wordsmith, we will be seeing more of him in the future.

The Counting Crows themselves played some old favorites, including a funked up version of "A Long December," which the crowd loved. They closed with a lilting and lovely cover of the Woody Guthrie classic, "This land is your land, this land is my land." This was after an impassioned plea by lead singer Adam Duritz, "I don't care who you vote for just vote. America was founded on the premise that your right to express your opinion matters. I don't care what you think, I just care that you think."

All and all a damn good show.

Laugh it up

The American Heart Association reports that one of the best ways to protect yourself against heart attack is to laugh often and exuberantly. Researchers compared patients who had suffered heart attacks or had undergone angioplasty or similar revascularization procedures with healthy aged-matched control patients. Results showed that the patients who had suffered heart problems were 40% less likely to laugh in a variety of situations than their healthy counterparts.

"The old axiom that, 'laughter is the best medicine' appears to hold true when it comes to protecting your heart," said Michael Miller, M.D. and Director of the Center for Preventive Cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore. Miller and his team could only speculate about why this is so. "We don't know why laughing protects the heart, but we do know that mental stress is associated with the impairment of endothelium, the protective barrier lining in our blood vessels," said Dr. Miller.

So laugh it up people...

A well kept Durham secret

This is the second of a seven part series about the home of the Clarion Content, Durham, NC. To read old Durham posts click here and scroll down. To see photos of Durham houses click here and scroll down.

There is a well-kept Durham secret at #325 W. Main Street, a part of downtown that has gotten better and better as Durham's urban renaissance continues. It is Guajillos Mexican grill. It is well known to the lawyers, judges, bail bondsmen and other members of the Durham legal community. It is located only blocks from the County Courthouse, not far from the newly opened Whiskey Bar. The reason why many of the our local readers will be familiar with Whiskey and not Guajillos is the hours. Guajillos is primarily open for lunch catering to the local, legal business community.

It is only a couple of doors down from another popularly, local, lunchtime eatery, the fabulous and more famous Toast. Guajillos is terrific, too. They specialize in Mexican and Colombian cuisine. Prices are very reasonable, a delicious lunch can be had for less than $7.00. The specialty of the house is Patacones, a Colombian Fried Plantain dish, that is out of this world. Also noteworthy are the Tortas (Mexican sandwiches) and the Arepa con Todo (a Colombian tortilla dish).

So save the $25 a head you were going to drop on Dos Perros and check out a wonderful, little hole in the wall joint, Guajillos.

E.K. Powe Library Makeover

This is the first of a seven part series about the home of the Clarion Content, Durham, NC. To read old Durham posts click here and scroll down. To see photos of Durham houses click here and scroll down.

E.K. Powe, the elementary school nearest our offices, has some good news! It was one of only thirty-two schools nationwide to be awarded a complete library makeover by Target and The Heart of America Foundation. The school's library will be redesigned with eco-friendly building materials.

The remodel includes 2000 new books for the school's library collection, computers, new carpeting, and age-appropriate furniture to encourage curling up with a good book. Plus each student gets an additional seven books of their very own.

Hooray for, E.K. Powe. And thanks to the Watts-Hillandale neighborhood association newsletter, Parade for the heads up.



This photo is from the era when E.K. Powe was West Durham High School.



This is E.K. Powe elementary today.

Music, lately

These three songs [see videos below] have burbled up from the murk of the cultural morass to make an impression on the Clarion Content's Music Editor.

Owl City does, "Fireflies"




Paramore's lead singer, Hayley Williams, with B.O.B., does "Airplanes"




Katy Perry does, "California Gurls" with a man who needs no introduction, Snoop Dogg...

***Ooops, they won't let us embed it, but you can watch the video here.