Blues and Burritos

Legendary guitarists Max Drake and Rusty Barkley.
Part-Time Blues Band.

September 25, 2009 marked the 9th Annual Blues and Burritos at our law firm. This started as a small event to acknowledge and entertain our clients. It quickly grew into a party open to the entire community. Our firm underwrites the entire event with free burritos and beer for all comers and an all star lineup of blues players and singers each year. This year was unusual because the weather was not beautiful. A an odd low pressure system had settled into the southeast. We postponed the event on September 18 because it had rained and rained and it was too wet. We figured that by 9/25 the rains would be gone completely. Nonetheless, by 9/25 the system was still in town and there was a 60 percent chance of rain. It was sunny most of the day, but after we had spent the afternoon setting up, dark clouds rolled in as the event was to begin. It looked like it was going to rain buckets. Instead, it drizzled occasionally and weather cooled to a comfortable temperature. Amazingly, we were hearing that it was raining all around town except right at our event. The weather held for most of the night and we had a crowd close to 1,000 people. We ask for donations and this year our charities were the Mooresville Soup Kitchen and HealthReach Community Clinic. Folks just reach in their pockets and give what they have with them that night. We have raised well in excess of $40,000 over the years. Come see us next September.

Top Fuel Dragsters

The start.
The burnout.

Motorcycles.

The venue.

I went to the NHRA Drag Racing event at Z-Max Dragway in Concord, North Carolina today. There is nothing quite like drag racing and I recommend that anyone experience even if your stomach is turned by the concept of racing. The event is so accessible to all fans. In the garage area, all fans are welcome to watch the preparations of the cars. The sport does a great job of crossing over its marketing opportunities with the sport itself. The entire garage area is essentially mobile as it is set up in a paved area behind the track itself. As such the higher funded top fuel and funny car programs are able to have hospitality trailers next to where they prepare the cars so the sponsors can entertain their customers while allowing them to view the preparations of the race car. There are several types of cars such as the pro stock as well as motorcycles. But there is nothing like top fuel and funny cars which top out at 315 miles an hour, less than 4 seconds to cover 1000 feet. To feel the full power of these machines is to have an experience that is unanticipated and almost overwhelming. As the cars pull from the start, the noise is beyond loud and ear plugs are required. But even more shocking than the noise is almost like a wave of undefinable energy that emanates from the cars, kind of like those waves of destruction that come from a nuclear bomb on that old footage from the desert tests. It truly simply blows you away. Check it out some time.

Futbol, I mean Football

At one time, I loved going to the college football games, the tailgating, the camaraderie, yelling so loud that I lost my voice. It still can be a pleasant experience, but I am not dialed into it like I used to be. It seems to last a long time to get there and the games last about 3.5 hours and the TV commercials seem to last forever. And, sometimes when we get back, I think to myself, I could have done something else with that time.

Iranian Diaspora

A group of folks organized a vigil to honor those who sought to be the new revolutionaries in Iran. A small turnout but one of respect for those who are willing to die in Iran for a chance at Democracy. Here in America where we have a true Democracy with a free election, we now have people who are absolutely refusing to respect the duly elected president of the United States. These are the same people who merrily followed Bush and Cheney for the eight years that put our country in the position it is in today. Astonishing. Well, back to the point of Iran--and the point is with all the folks out there with their tea parties and their pretended disgust with universal health care (which is really simply a veil for their hatred of a Black President), they can't find the time to stand in unison with those who truly are fighting an entrenched, fascist, theocratic regime. Okay, glad I got that out.

Contrasting Farmer's Markets

A chef at Davidson Farmer's Market.

Went to a couple of farmer's markets today. The one in Mooresville is old school with a bit of a twist. By old school I mean the farmer's are just gardeners who are selling their stuff for extremely reasonable prices such as $1.00 per pound for tomatoes (hey, does an "e" go on there?). And the stuff is really grown in somebody's garden, probably not using much in the way of sophisticated methods. The "twist" is the fact that some folks from an Indian grocery show up in their van every other week and sell about everything you might find in an Indian grocery: Basmati rice, hot peppers of all kinds, eggplant, unripe mango, Indian cheese, you name it. And word is out as Indian people come from all around to buy their week's supply instead of having to drive in to Charlotte. I wish I knew what some of the stuff is and how to cook with it.

The Davidson farmer's market is a different scene. It carries the vibe of the bucolic college town and the feel of the influence of the "slow" food movement. Some of the farmers are probably gardeners but I get the sense some of the others are commercial operations who are targeting the upscale market. Though there may be 20 vendors, price fixing is in effect. Everybody was selling their tomatoes for $2.50 per pound (as opposed to $1.00 per pound in Mooresville). There were chefs and people selling free range pig meat and such. Always can get a good deal on basil from some Chinese folks who are there--$1.00 for a nice size fresh bunch. There are some Mennonites (kind of like liberal Amish--I saw one teenager messing with her digital camera) who sell some organize veggies and baked goods.

So the two markets are a little different and kind of the same. Not knocking either one. You about have to go to both to get the cross section of what you need. I bought some peaches and tomatoes from the locals in Mooresville and some eggplant from the Indian folks. In Davidson, I picked up some basil from the Chinese folks and some tomatoes from the Mennonites. I am just pointing out the ethnicity of these folks to kind of help you understand the interesting variety of people to be found at these markets. Oh, and the Davidson market has live music which is an added bonus. Hell, I might have written about this before, I am seeing the keywords pop up as I type them !

Further out Central

Vietnamese coffee after a large bowl of pho.

As a teenager in the 1970's we liked to drive to Charlotte to Eastland Mall to go to the midnight movies. Eastland Mall at that time essentially anchored a longstanding middle class predominantly white neighborhood in East Charlotte. Upscale apartment complexes had sprung up catering to the 20 somethings who were beginning to be attracted to the city in the late 1970's. However, ultimately thirty years later Eastland Mall is all but closed and East Charlotte has transformed into a multi-ethnic enclave primarily consisting of apartment complexes filled with Mexicans, Salvadorans, Hondurans, Chinese, Vietnamese and the mainstay as the low man on the ladder, African-Americans. Though the neighborhoods are clearly poor and somewhat dangerous depending on the place and time of day, they have a flavor not really seen elsewhere in the Carolinas. There are numerous restaurants serving all of the ethnicities. And, if you are suburbanites who like to experience the real food of our many immigrants, Central Avenue can be a wonderland. Tonight we enjoyed a pho meal at Ben Thanh at 4900 Central Avenue. Other restaurants we enjoy out this way on Central are Dim Sum, serving, of course, dim sum as well as Pho Hoa, another Vietnamese place and the Landmark, a Greek owned place serving traditional American food like Italian (okay, that's supposed to be joke) and fantastic homemade desserts. Tonight, as we sat at the restaurant, we watched the locals as they struggled to cross busy Central Avenue to get their groceries or some takeout. We noticed how many people were walking everywhere, probably because not as many own cars as they do where we come from. After eating, we walked to the nearby strip center and visited Cedars, a middle eastern store. Here, I bought some lentils and some Moroccan sardines in olive oil. There were about seven five gallon buckets filled with olives at the front of the store and we brought some of those home also. We are fortunate to have such a place to go and experience other cultures. This type of change is not without controversy as it has certainly changed the way of life for long time residents of the area. Ultimately, however, a certain amount of acceptance allows one to witness and absorb from the various cultures and to perhaps be more open to other concepts about how life can be lived.

Tori Amos at Durham PAC

Dramatic Flair.
Reverence from the crowd.
Song stylist at work.

In the pivot position.

Tori Amos returned to her home turf in North Carolina to perform at the spanking new Durham Performing Arts Center on July 31, 2009. She emphasized material from her latest album, "Abnormally Attracted to Sin." The show featured Amos on piano, organ and a variety of other keyboards along with a drummer and a fellow who alternated between bass and guitar. A near capacity crowd listened reverently as she reeled through alot of her new album and threw in a classic like "Cornflake Girl" which she played as the third song. Amos exhibited her typical defiant and confident attitude for the interesting demographic that is often seen at her shows. Though most rock shows will attract a predominately straight male audience, Amos seems to draw alot of women in groups, more gay male couples than one would expect and alot of guys with their dates or wives. I won't try to analyze that any further. At many "middle aged" shows, the debate is often whether or not to stand up and dance or sit down and listen. This show was no different though the crowd seemed to easily settle into their seats until the encore when everybody got up and boogied a little. A good, solid show. Check out my youtube for some vids www.youtube.com/nosyfieldstone