the scatterbox organized

Haggis with a Side of Doughnuts

 

I recently had the good fortune to head up to Canada for a night to enjoy some of my favorite ear candy.  Enter the Haggis is a band based in Toronto, Ontario that has been on an ever-increasing wave of success for almost ten years.  Never heard of them?  Well, it's time to change all that.

I've had the pleasure of knowing the guys for six years now, and to see their metamorphosis has been nothing short of wonderful.  One reason you've likely never heard of them before is because they started out in their infancy as mostly a Celtic-genre band, playing and growing on the festival circuit (usually ones with the same theme), as well as small pubs and venues here and there.  Though living in Canada, they quickly realized how to capitalize on a few benefits associated with traveling the U.S. by hopping to and from towns in close proximity to each other.  As they traveled more, even to a handful of European gigs along the way, their fan base grew.  Also growing at the same time was their sound.

When the current band member lineup came to be around the year 2000, it brought in a colorful resume of talent.  New members with backgrounds and interests in jazz, latin, celtic, prog rock, classic rock, and traditional Canadian sounds were suddenly melded together, which to many, would seem worthy of an audible antacid.  The happy surprise is that the result is just the opposite.  As the guys describe it, their name has come to be synonymous with their sound: random elements mixed together to form something pleasingly palatable.

With the increase in their popularity, ETH has popped up in great places like The Kennedy Center, the soundtrack for the indie flick 10 MPH (support these flimmakers!), a live concert broadcast on PBS, A&E's Breakfast with the Arts, Live with Regis & Kelly, and most recently, Canada AM, performing The Litter and the Leaves:

Their newest release, Gutter Anthems, is, in my not-so-humble opinion, their most ambitious, unapologetic, and professional compilation yet.  One of my all-time favorite artists is Billy Joel, primarily because of the great storytelling in his lyrics.  ETH has been another all-timer of mine for not only coughing up some of my favorite ballads and crunchy rock tunes, but also for following that same lyrical formula, which they do exceptionally well again on Anthems.  The other aspect that immediately caught my attention on this release is the thorough use of sublime vocal harmonies, for which I am most certainly a sucker.

All that said, it's time to shove some Haggis in your ears and see what I'm spouting off about.  Right now, they are offering up the entire Gutter Anthems CD for a free listen on their website, a very tasty treat, indeed.  If you need more of a free fix to see where they've come from, check out their page on UFO, their record label's website, where you can listen to all four of their most recent releases on the audio player.    Need more linkage?  Find them also on MySpace, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.  Then go to their main website, find out when they're playing near you, and get thee to a show.  If there's one thing to be said about ETH, it's that if you like their recorded sound, even just a little bit, their live sound promises to be slap-your-mamma good.

***

As for that side of doughnuts...

ESPN today has been broadcasting their coverage of the local, incredibly fun, Krispy Kreme Challenge that we participated in, as mentioned previously.  The network had their very own Greg Garber pony up to the contest, though he squeaked in just a few minutes shy of the one hour mark.  How he did all of that in a suit and tie, with commentary, and not offer up any road cookies is beyond me.

The GREAT feature narrative clip can be seen HERE.

And this is Greg Garber's personal account:

Have a great week!

Glazed Over

The sugar rushes, upset stomaches, and sore muscles are gone.  So, too, is this year's Krispy Kreme Challenge.

As mentioned earlier, we participated in this year's event, which began in 2004 with a mere 12 friends.  This past Saturday's event included not only over 5,200 participants, both locals and outta-towners, but ESPN coverage, as well.  With temps warming into the low 60s, all was bright in preparation for the Running of the Insane. 

Not only was it shocking to see how many turned out for this event, but the colorful array of entrants certainly added to the atmosphere.  There were a few guys running in just shoes, socks and Speedos (cape optional).  Girls wearing prom dresses.  Costumed superheroes.  A three-legged dog.  A (ex-?)soldier wearing fatigues, combat boots, and a full backpack of who-knows-what.  The guy dressed like Elvis.  Mullet wigs.  A gorilla costume.  Numerous runners wearing inflatable pool innertubes painted like doughnuts around their waist.  Students of Campbell University running with a strapped-on cardboard viking ship around them, five at a time.  Body painting.  And what appeared to be members of the UNC wrestling team... wearing only their too-tight,TMI team leotards.  It all was mildly reminiscent of the costumed gorge-fest of Marathon du Medoc, held in France (on my bucket list, for sure) that I'd learned about not long ago.  They all gathered around the start line, waiting for the tower to chime 9:30am.

  

I started out making an effort, but did not get too far on the whole "running" thing.  A little speed walking was more my style.  Mike was off making a go of it with some of his Footy friends, so we would rendezvous at Krispy Kreme, the halfway point.  Before I arrived, there were already runners making their way back on the second leg, returning to the bell tower and the finish line.  Not everyone was eating the full dozen doughnuts at the half; only those serious enough to be down with the challenge had to shove them all in before returning to the tower within the hour.  It was touch-and-go about whether or not Mike might make a go of the total twelve.  When I got to the Kreme, there were mobs of people gathered at the tiny store.  Some waiting for their boxes, some already stuffing their faces.  There were speed eaters, water-dunkers, pile-smashers.  There were boxes and stray pastries everywhere, amidst the already-forming puke hazards on the pavement.  You could see the anguish on faces drizzled with sweat, though whether the perspiration came from the physical exertion or the glucose overdose was not certain.  I finally spied Mike with one of his friends, he was actually doing it; scarfing down the last of his box.

 

Not everyone had the same fortune...

 

Defeat.

Needless to say, the over-eager beavers that were all in a hurry to run their way to the store were a much different crowd on the way back.  The ratio of runners to walkers did almost a complete 180.  I was still walking myself, but being that I was smart and only had two doughnuts, I was still in relatively good form.  My butt was way too out of shape to deal with anything else that morning besides seeing if my legs would hold up for four miles.  I even passed by Mr. Mullet Man.

 

Finally, everyone made their way back to the tower...

... where they patted themselves on the back, listened to the awards ceremony, and enjoyed some good tunes provided by the Jambulance.

HILARIOUS.

The winner received a doughnut medal.  And five more boxes of doughnuts.

To see some amazing photos captured by the NC State newspaper staff, click HERE!

Their official video is HERE...

And for a cute look at some pre-race footage:

"How To KKC" from Matt at Wolf TV on Vimeo.

Can't wait till next year.  Costumed, perhaps...?

It's on like Donkey Kong

The 2008 5th Annual Krispy Kreme Challenge.

On Saturday, February 9th, it is back. What started out as a throw-down between twelve friends in 2004 has very quickly turned into one of the most popular charity events of the area.  Last year's event drew 3,000 participants.  What's all the hoo-ha, you ask?

Imagine, if you will, a chilly winter morning in Raleigh...  A gathering at the bell tower on the campus of N.C. State University...  You stretch your limbs and run (or puss-out and walk) two miles to your destination: The local Krispy Kreme factory shoppe.  Awaiting you there is one dozen beautiful, melt-in-your-mouth, Hot Now doughnuts.  (Not familiar with the Hot Now?  You have my sympathies.) 

But this is not your reward. 

Your shining moment comes when you shove ALL twelve rings down your gullet and haul ass another two miles back to the bell tower.  If you finish, you can proudly annoint yourself a winner of The Challenge.

It's a thing of genius.

Missing out on last year's event, I have made the decision to enter this year's contest with my partner in crime.  I've already started my training by partaking in a doughnut or two nearly every day at work where we always have a stash on hand.  Any other physical training?  Ahhh, no.  Because, well... "running"... isn't really my thing.  But the doughnuts are.  Not to mention that the proceeds are donated to the N.C. Children's Hospital.  Bonus!  We will be participating with a few other members of the Carolina Rollergirls, some who are now seasoned veterans of this showdown, and some who actually pony up and run it like it's meant to be run. 

Last year, for the 2008 4th annual event, there was a promo video put out featuring scenes from the 2007 run:

My favorite is the 2007 promo featuring the 2006 footage, which so wonderfully depicts the beautiful agony.  And puking.

Stay tuned for the follow-up report.

Planetary motion and other Thanksgivingness

This is going to be a long one, but first things first:

GO OUTSIDE AND CHECK OUT THE MOON!!!

For realz - According to the good folks at space.com, tonight is a rare night for those geekily fascinated with astronomy, like yours truly.  The moon will be very slim, and to the right of it will be two super-bright "stars" that are really planets: Venus is the brightest one at the bottom, and Jupiter(!) is the next-brightest to the upper-right.  I've always known you could see Venus in the sky.  Or at least I've known it was something non-stellar.  I was poorly misinformed a while back that the brightest object in the sky besides the moon was the sun's reflection off the space station.  Not a bad theory, until I questioned it earlier this year while at NC State's planetarium show and the knowledgeable host corrected me.  Either way... HOW COOL.

I can't stop staring at it.  Like all of a sudden, they are going to start swirling around like a laser-pointer show or something.  Of course, I had to take a picture.  Couldn't get the tripod in the right spot on the balcony to get a non-flash shot, which would have also captured the shadow of the moon's full orb (also cool).  So I went with flash, and at least you can see a little bit of the craters when you zoom in.  Do you have binoculars at home?  You can totally see craters on the moon with them!  I have not done this before.  Hence my elementary giddiness. 

Here's my attempt at night sky photography without knowing any better how to get a more professional photo.  Exibit A is the moon on the left (just seeing if you're skimming...).  Exibit B is the bright spot at the bottom, Venus.  And exibit C to the upper-right is Jupiter.  Did I say cool?  COOL.

 

Now that I've uploaded it, it doesn't do justice to the largeness and brightness of the planets.  Boo.  Maybe you can click on it and see it in better quality.  Anyhoo, on with the show.

*****

SO!  Where were we...  Ah, Thanksgivingness.  Ours was actually celebrated (i.e. "face-stuffed") the weekend prior to said holiday.  I had to work on Turkey Day proper, so we went to my home-Land-of-Cleve to celebrate with my family.  We had gotten warnings of proper attire for our suitcases, which meant only one thing:

SNOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!

Driving up, we didn't really hit the good stuff until about a half-hour from our destination, but it did not disappoint.  It was already dark, but in the tradition of my favorite winter-evening memories, it was very heavy on the branches, making them all look fluffy white, and the sky was just a bit lighter than normal.  When you stood outside, there was the familiar chilly, yet cozy, silence in the air of being cocooned in a snowy blanket.  The following morning was no exception, as my favorite huge chunky snow drifted slowly and peacefully from the sky.

 

Then it stopped, eventually started to melt a stitch, and like an idiot, I realized I didn't get outside to take more pictures in its prime.  *le sigh*

Saturday was our turkey day!  A day when I usually avoid what's going on in the kitchen (I'm a non-cooker, for all the new readers out there).  The mister (my resident chef) offered up his services to prepare not only our bird, but six casserole-dish-sized side items, as well.  Being the culinary geek that HE is, your usual fare was not good enough.  Consulting the pages of Bon Apetit and Food & Wine, the smells of this year's feast began to fill up the joint.  His chosen theme was to make dishes reminiscent of what would have been had back in the day when the pilgrims were kissing up to the native Americans.  (You know, prior to the whole robbing-them-of-their-way-of-life thing that followed.)  The turkey was a purdy sight, slathered with a sweet citrusy glaze on the outside.

 

I'm serious here, people.  That is the actual turkey he made.  Cookies aside, there should be no question why I'm keeping him around.  After dinner, we had a mini-birthday celebration for Mr. Chef.  Since he did not have time (or room) to also add on the task of making dessert (JEEZ!), we purchased a peach pie and the ever-nummy Breyer's vanilla bean ice cream.  One of his gifts was a pair of tickets to the following day's Cleveland Browns home game downtown, which really just made it like my birthday instead. :)

Sunday morning, we geared up.  Swiss-Miss hat?  Check.  Ski coat and gloves?  Check.  Butt-warming bean-filled chair cushion?  Check.  Super-thick Mexican-style wool blanket?  Check Check.  Time to head to town! 

Let it be known that I love me some Cleveland, Ohio.  Trash if you will, but I'm a dyed-in-the-wool fan.  Granted, I don't live there anymore and may not ever again, but I have very fond memories.  Not so much the ones driving in the aforementioned snow after the holidays (when I have not-quite-as-nice sentiments about it and its determination to linger for an additional 3-4 months), but good ones, nonetheless.  One of those memories was heading downtown to check out the lights and sights the day after Thanksgiving, for which we were just a bit early this time around.  It was still good to see the city continuing its quest to breathe life into the heart of itself once again, as it had done in the past.  New shops and restaurants, and lots and lots of renovated space in the buildings with their wonderful architecture.  On our walk to the stadium, an orange awning that I never-before recalled caught my eye.  Could it be a deli?  We hadn't eaten yet, so we decided to check it out.

JACKPOT.

How have I never seen this or been here before???  The Sportsman's Deli.  You couldn't have picked a more perfect place to gnosh before an early-winter football game in a steel-belt town.  I'd show you the website, but based on the un-renovated interior of the establishment, they might not know how to operate a computer yet, let alone get that fancy.  And I wouldn't want them to.

 

See inside the window, to the right of the neon football helmet?  That's one of those old-fashioned Tiffany-esque bar lamps.  Except surely no where else can you find ones emblazoned solely with the words "CORN BEEF" on one and "PASTRAMI" on the other.  In stained glass.  Awesome.  All in a lovely shade of 70s orange to match the awning outside and Browns uniforms nearby.  Inside was the warmth of grandma's sweet basement plywood paneling and tons of local sports memorabilia on the wall.  Fill it up with salt-of-the-earth blue-collar good folk clad in their Brownie best, shove down a plate of "world's-finest" corned beef (yes, it was pretty damn good), and you couldn't ask for anything more on such a fine Lake Erie morning.  I probably was the only chick in there besides the wait staff, but who cares.  I wanna go back.

 

I had not yet been inside the new Cleveland Browns stadium.  I have fond memories of going, very young, with my dad to watch games in the upper-deck of the old stadium, metal girders blocking half of your view, icy wind whipping around inside like a vortex, sucking down hot chocolate from our thermos, and sopping up the infamous Stadium Mustard (go order you some) on a dog or two.  They were good times.  The new digs were wonderful.  Completely open and in the same location, but somehow the wind wasn't as menacing.  You aren't allowed to bring in a thermos anymore and you go through security on your way in (compliments of 9/11), but the magic is still there.  A sea of brown and orange, awesomely sarcastic and cynical fans who will never stop being fans, even when the team chokes... yet again, and the intense hatred for the Steelers, even when they aren't the ones on today's lineup.  Cups of hot chocolate and gobs of stadium mustard later, we left, very satisfied.

On the way back, we stopped by Public Square and Tower City, which was once home to the wonderful Higbee's department store.  We always went into Higbee's on our Black Friday visits, and I'll never forget the high, white walls, huge chandeliers, and swags of red curtains and christmas lights.  I remember up on the tenth floor of the building was where kids could go in to a special store of their own and shop for their parents while they waited for them outside the doors.  Today, Higbee's is sadly gone.  In it's place is a less-exciting office, though they did smartly keep the white walls and chandeliers of the old days.  For those of you who are huge Christmas Story fans like my Mister, you'll know that Higbee's is the department store featured at the beginning of the movie.  You can see the curtains and chandeliers in the scenes where Ralphie and his brother visit Santa after the parade on Public Square.  In keeping with tradition, and especially given that this is the 25th anniversary of that classic flick, they decorate the infamous window where Ralphie and his friends drooled over the Red Rider BB gun.  This past weekend was the commemorative Christmas Story weekend, complete with cast reunion and visits to the old yellow house, recently bought, renovated, returned to its former color, and turned into a museum.

That night was relaxing as we headed over to Sarah's Vineyard, a winery and gallery inside an old 1846 farmhouse.  We brought along a bunch of appetizers to eat while sampling a few bottles of their reds and whites.  You totally feel like you're intruding, bringing in shopping bags with all your food, plates, and napkins, but that's exactly what they want you to do.  Just relax.  It was very nice surrounding yourself with the old wood, arts and crafts.  Stay till the end of the night like we did, and you can meet Stanley and Frontenac (like the grape), the resident brother doggies.

On Monday, we drove to Medina, a town that I'd never actually been to in all my years there.  It has a very cute downtown square area, and was all decorated with white twinkly lights in every shop window.  Lunch was at (highly-recommended) Dan's Dogs, a diner with something like 50 types of super-cheap and super-tasty hot dog topping combos on the menu, decorated in 50s era diner style.  We also stopped by Root Candle's amazing shop, which was full of fantastic home items that the decorator in me wanted to splurge on.  The company has a niftly little history, as well.

It was a good weekend.  Then, alas, it was Tuesday, which meant facing the 8-hour return drive home.  Just in time, however, the snow came back once more to say goodbye.

 

All derby, all the time

Well, at least all weekend!

Ladies and gents, pull up your monitor and watch the best roller derby our nation has to offer ALL weekend long!  The Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) is having its annual national championship this weekend in the host city of Portland, Oregon.  This year's tourney is titled Northwest Knockdown, and is sponsored by Portland's Rose City Rollers in conjunction with Seattle's Rat City Rollergirls.  I juuust missed being there for it, but will be certainly watching.

You can also watch the action on http://www.ustream.tv/channel/northwest-knockdown-live where there is also the always-entertaining commentary running along the side.  Commentary alone is also available at http://www.derbynewsnetwork.com/leadjammer.  (And yes, there have been streaming issues, in case you're getting a blank screen.)

This tournament pairs up the top four teams of the east and the top four of the west, ranked by the results of the regional tournaments held last month.  The festivities get underway TONIGHT at 6:00pm pacific time, or 9:00pm eastern.  Of course, I am cheering on my Carolina Rollergirls All-Stars, who have the first game of the tourney tonight against the always-challenging Texas Rollergirls Texecutioners.

Get all the info and the streaming video here at www.northwestknockdown.com.  Just go to the section marked "The Event" for schedules, brackets, and, of course, the video!  Plus, they've got a friggin' CUTE logo.  If anyone is there and reading this, please bring me home the brown long-sleeved women's event shirt, size small.  Thank you!

 

Plugging it in

Shameless plug time!

Do you live in the Raleigh-Durham-Triangle area?  Looking for somewhere to hang out on Saturday night?  Come join the Carolina Rollergirls!

Dia De Los Muertos

Saturday, November 1 | 8:00pm-2:00am

Berkeley Cafe | 217 Martin Street | Raleigh, NC

Come party with us and celebrate the "Day of the Dead." Wear black & white, but be creative as we'll have awards for best dressed. Listen to some awesome local DJs, sing some karaoke, and hang with your favorite girls on wheels.

$5 Cover
Proceeds from this fundraiser will go to the league to cover team travel, bout production, insurance, and a myriad of other league expenses.

Tigerama

Rawr.

It's that time of year again.  While it's no secret that my mind falls on something shop-related at least once every half hour, my husband announced last night that he experiences the same phenomenon... with college football.  Our parallel similarities have always worked for us.  So it's good that while I can spend an entire day re-taking almost all of my photos or working on that new banner, I don't feel as bad because he's spending almost the same amount of time building his team's empire on his Playstation NCAA 2009 game.  Secrets to a good marriage, my friends.

As the upcoming tailgating season approaches, the fever is swelling.  Not only are we in a very NCAA-saturated part of the country, I married a die-hard Clemson fan.  Now, I'm a big Clemson fan, too, by marriage.  My true alma mater is at Kent State University in northeast Ohio (yes, where those kids got shot), which I do love and miss.  During my tenure there, however, aside from baseball that no one I knew watched, our sports teams, and namely our football team, had nothing going for them.  I did manage to make it to all of the home football games my freshman year, oddly enough.  But one thing very much missing back then that Clemson possesses in spades is a fan base.  There was no tailgating.  No rallies, no nada that I can recall.  I actually bought a t-shirt at the campus bookstore (read it again - they sold it ON campus) that read, "Kent, Ohio - A drinking town with a football problem."  It was a great shirt.  Nowadays, I am happy to report that the sports atmosphere in Kent is 180-degrees from what I recall.  Tailgating is very much a part of the Saturday traditions now, even if it's still in its infancy.  This new wave came about with the success of our basketball team, a better football team, and (thankfully) a sweet little new logo for athletics.  Does an alum proud.

But over the years since graduation and moving away, I have spent much more time at functions Tiger-related than all the time I spent with my Golden Flashes.  Clemson is like the alma mater that I never attended, though we did live there when we were first married, so maybe that counts in my favor.  I still root for my blue and gold, and even for my scarlet and grey (husband still argues that I can't be an Ohio State fan if I never went there, to which I argue that it is THE Ohio STATE University, and by birthright, everyone is tied to it).  But in the fall, the colors that dominate the household and apparel are orange and purple (or navy, whenever the school is in the mood, apparently).  We make the occasional trek down to Death Valley where the tiny town becomes insanely packed and washed in orange.  Where I had my first encounter with deep fried turkey (tasty), pimento cheese (nasty), and Tiger Rag.  Though I still think everyone needs to get together and come up with more cheers, and I think the mascot has crazy eyes like that snake in The Jungle Book, there is something undeniable about the atmosphere on game day downtown, at Bowman Field, and sitting among 80,000 people who would be glad to call you friend.

In honor of that spirit and for letting me vicariously experience what I do wish we had at KSU back in the day, I've started the Tiger Collection, a little section devoted to the species known as the Clemson fan.  Quantities are very limited so don't dilly dally.  And to my surrogate Clemsonites, thanks for taking me in!

• Bracelets: 2 purple, 2 orange, 1 multi
• Alma mater pendant: 7 available  4 left!
• Earrings: 3 purple, 3 orange