5 Years in Iraq - A Remembrance & Peace Vigil

For everyone who wishes to attend.

The Peace and Social Concerns Committee of the Durham Friends Meeting invite members of the Durham community and beyond to join together for a candlelight vigil on the 5th anniversary of the war in Iraq.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008 7:00-8:00PM at Brightleaf Square on the corner of Main and Gregson Streets in Durham.

Names of some of the many who have lost their lives will be read. Bring candles. For more information contact: Nikki Vangsnes 699-8207 or Karen Stewart.

Candlelight Vigil for Peace on the 5th Anniversary of the War in Iraq Wednesday, March 19, 7:00-8:00PM Brightleaf Square Corner of Gregson & Main Durham, NC.

Dinner at Blue Corn Cafe

We hadn't dined on Ninth Street at Blue Corn Cafe--touted on their website as "Durham's only Latin-American Restaurant"--in a long while and decided to have dinner there a couple of nights ago. We were seated in the newer section where there is a bar now, even though it appeared that there were tables available on the other side (the non-bar side). Frankly, the newer side seemed noisy and overly bright for a dinner seating, and our being seated next to a large noisy table of eight or so didn't help.

The service was efficient and pleasant, and my food was delicious. My dining companion didn't think her dish was all that great, however; mainly because she recalled, after it arrived, that eggplant is not such a personal favorite.

My dish was Plantanos con Pollo and I had no complaints, other than the black beans, which were dry and bland. The tangy mango and plaintains more than made up for that though:

My companion had the Grilled Eggplant & Roma Tomato Quesadilla:

There was a nice explanation clipped to their menu about the water restrictions and how they now charge $1 for a bottle of water. It seemed smart to include such an alert for any who may not understand how dire things have been recently during our drought and the aftermath.

Seems I remember that Blue Corn used to serve a basket of pretty multi-color tortilla chips and some salsa complimentary during the wait for the food to arrive. That doesn't seem to be the case anymore, however.

Would you make a good eyewitness?

What's your awareness level? Very quick and easy visual test to take at the link. You might be astonished at your results.

http://www.dothetest.co.uk/


(If you do leave a comment, don't leave a spoiler!)

Don't miss

what Barry says in his column:

Eve Carson's death was a loss that will reverberate throughout society because of the good she won't be able to accomplish. A person that young who had already had such a positive impact on her world, as evidenced by the thousands of students who gathered at the campus vigil in her honor, could over time have had an immeasurable impact on the larger world.

The people suspected in her death are black, but they represent all black people about as much as Timothy McVeigh or those Columbine killers represent all white people -- which is to say not at all.

Evil is not race-specific.

The full column can be read here. Don't miss it.

Is that it? No horns, no tail?

I promised an update and here it is.

I hope this isn't New Bull. He hardly seems very Bully anymore.





Compare to Old Bull, who had horns, a tail, and I could sometimes see the red eyes from the back:

Two+ helicopters zooming around downtown

and I'm assuming it's in relation to apprehending the suspects in the Eve Carson case.

One keeps hovering in the area of Forest Hills, and the other one is zooming all over.

Here's the Forest Hills one:



Edited to add that they are both there now:

In with the New Bull? Out with the Old Bull?

Says here that Old Bull will come down today at 4pm and will be replaced by New Bull:

The new bull will be much the same — its eyes still will light red, its nostrils still emit smoke. Except the new bull will be two-sided.

Hey! He was two-sided already as I blogged about here last week.

But maybe New Bull will turn out to be okay after all.

As I type this, Old Bull still stands. I'll update with pics when I see back of the New Bull.


Thanks to RR for alerting me!

Peruvian-style Roasted Chicken

Taking a cue from the local bloggers at Carpe Durham and Eat at Joe's about Mami Nora's Chicken, as well as some friends who visited there recently, we gave it a try today for lunch. The food at Mami Nora was very tasty--exceeded my expectations, actually. The place is super clean, the staff is friendly and nice, and the menu is straightforward. I'll be going back.

I snapped some pictures of my trip for you.

It's located at 302 Davidson Street, near Compare Grocery at Club/Roxboro:

There are more tables than this, but this is the basic set-up. Go to the counter and order, choose a table, and they'll bring the food to you:

Here are the chickens roasting over the wood charcoal. Usually the door is pulled down and closed, but I caught it open and took a pic, at the urging of my lunch companions:

I ordered a quarter chicken (you have your choice of white or dark) and the 2 sides I chose were plaintains and yucca fries. The spices used on the roasted chicken are just about the best I've ever had. The yucca fries and plaintains were fresh and delicious.


The proprietor gave us all complimentary servings of chicken soup as an appetizer to familiarize us with how good it is. It is quite good--the chicken, potatoes, and carrots in it are generous, and the bit of cilantro is fantastic.


The Durham News had a story about Mami Nora's a few weeks ago here if you'd like to read a little more about the restaurant and about the proprietor:

[Ranbir] Bakhshi grew up in Maryland, the son of a Salvadoran mother and an Indian father. The Peruvian connection is his stepfather, and Bakhshi was first exposed to the rotisserie chicken sold on the streets of Peru when he visited family growing up. After graduating from high school, he spent three years in the Army before going to culinary school.

Give it a try!

More Spring in my Garden

3 Faces:



Mini Daff:

More Minis:


Blue Pansies:

Back of the Bull

as seen from the DBP office. I guess they are going to change the ol' Bull from what I've heard recently. Modernizing him, they say. That may well mean I can't see the bull and those horns anymore while chatting on the phone to clients and that makes me kind of sad. I like you, Bull. You kept me company lots of days, even though you had your back turned to me.

Breakfast blogging

Seeing as how I love poached eggs over toast or a toasted English muffin, but always thought it was super complicated to get them right at home, I'd never made any for myself. So I gave poached eggs a shot this morning and I did it! The yolk was done just right on the inside too. I added a little coarse black pepper to the top of the eggs. Maybe most of you poach eggs often and this seems like a small victory, but I was pretty happy about getting it right. Of course I snapped a picture (above).

This site gave me my instructions, though I didn't use vinegar in the water as suggested.

Duke Gardens makes it clear

in case you were wondering:


It was sunny and 71 degrees or so yesterday and plenty of people were out enjoying Duke Gardens. Not many things blooming, but some things were. Lovely to see different families soaking up the sun and for one little Latina girl at the pond to walk up to a duck and exclaim, "Hola, duck!"

Hola Duck!

Sundial inscribed "Nothing is worth more than this day."

Some beautiful blooms can be found.

Oh, Lizard Man, not the car!

Have you seen this man . . . uh, I mean, lizard man? Sketch of likeness below.

"Lizard Man" returns?

Feb 29, 2008 06:02 PM

BISHOPVILLE, SC (WIS) - After a nasty surprise Thursday morning for one Bishopville resident, she's wondering if the "Lizard Man" is back.

Dixie Rawson of Bishopville sent WIS News 10 an e-mail about a big surprise she got at her home Thursday morning. "The whole front half of our van is chewed up. There are bite marks right through the front grill. Both sides of the van above the wheel wells were bitten and the metal is bent like a piece of paper."

It reminded Dixie of the local legend of the "Lizard Man" that stretches back for decades. Now some are wondering if the Lizard Man is back.

"I couldn't believe it, I just couldn't believe it," says Bob Rawson. He looks down at the blood and claw marks on his van. "He literally bit, you can feel where he bit straight through here."

Who is "he"? It's a point of renewed debate in the area. Some are sure they know the only creature capable of this kind of damage is the Lizard Man.

Read the rest, and how the 20 plus family cats are missing, from WISTV in Columbia SC.

Someone better read the fine print on their car insurance, I'd say.

I await the DNA test on Lizard Man's blood!

Have a great week, readers. And BOLO for Lizard Man.

Don't Mess with Texas--Prairie View A&M, that is.

Prairie View A & M shows us how it's done.

Seems the Texas Republicans, known for these sorts of things, went out of their way to shut down and shut out the young voters at this historically black university located in Waller County. How? They made sure the closest early voting polling place was located more than 7 miles from the campus. Most kids with no car on campus would just be out of luck.

So what did the students do? They organized a group and all walked the 7 miles to their early voting polling place on the first day it opened!

You might want to see this:



A still photo below. Banner: It's 2008 We Will Vote.



From: ruralvotes.com