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Featured Food

TASTE OF THE TOWN


The Pig
Don’t let the name fool you – The Pig is not your average simple barbecue restaurant.

Categories
almanac

ROSS’S ALMANAC for September 2012

Compiled by Kirk Ross

Summer’s end arrives on Sept. 22 at 11 minutes prior to 11 a.m. By then, the fall cycles of daily life will have been in motion here for almost a month.

From our hill south of town you can almost hear the school year commencing in late August. For a couple of weeks, there’s an ever-increasing distant roar of extra vehicles and HVAC units. Eventually, we hear the loudest outdoor sound the town produces – Kenan Stadium after a score by the home team.

This almost-past summer was a scorcher. We’re lucky here in that we saw a good bit of rain during the heat compared to states west of us. Cooler weather in late August reminded us that long sleeves and nights under blankets are coming soon. But while the cool starts to creep in, there is one remnant of summer’s record heat to keep an eye on. The waters of the Atlantic Ocean’s hurricane alley remain quite warm, fueling the storms spinning off the coast of Africa around Cape Verdes as they make their trek west. The later-season storms are the ones we worry over along the Carolina coast and even far inland. As of this writing, a few such systems are spinning slowly through the tropics.

Sept. 1 – Sunrise: 6:49 a.m.; Sunset: 7:43 p.m.
Sept. 30 – Sunrise: 7:11 a.m.; Sunset: 7:01 p.m.

Last Quarter – Sept. 8 New Moon – Sept. 15
First Quarter – Sept. 22 Full Moon – Sept. 29

The full moon in September is known as the Harvest Moon, Barley Moon and Corn Moon.

Planets & Stars
Reddish Mars appears low in the southwestern sky in the early evening. Much of the month, Saturn can be seen to the right of Mars and above the bright star Spica, but by the end of September the ringed planet slips away into evening twilight. Jupiter and Venus are the brightest objects in the early-morning sky (other than the Moon when it’s up); Venus is the lower and brighter of the two planets. Mercury hides in the Sun’s glare all month
—Amy Sayle, Morehead Planetarium and Science Center

Significant Dates
September is Hispanic Heritage Month, National Courtesy Month, Honey Month, Classical Music Month and National Piano Month.
• Labor Day is celebrated on Monday, Sept. 3
• Newspaper Carrier Day is Sept. 4
• Grandparents Day and National Hug Your Hound Day is Sept. 9
• The National Day of Service and Remembrance is on Sept. 11
• Felt Hat Day and Puppy Mill Awareness Day is Sept. 15
• Mayflower Day and the Trail of Tears Commemoration Day share Sept. 16 (think about it)
• Business Women’s Day is Sept. 22
• Sept. 26 is Yom Kippur and Johnny Appleseed Day
There are UNC home football games on Sept. 1 (Elon), 22 (ECU) and 29 (Idaho).

Categories
Arts & Music

Gimme Five! Nathan Toben of The Toddlers

photo by Jacki Huntington

Like any small child, Nathan Toben and his band of collaborators have a habit of throwing together ideas regardless of the boundaries “adults” might place around them. Forget rules. Forget genre. There is only play. For kids that tends to mean pulling down glass ware or wandering into closets, for The Toddlers it takes the form of post-punk Americana that surges with emotional honesty.

The band’s currently raising funds to record a debut album with Mitch Easter at his studio, Fideltorium. Are these the sort of Toddlers you want taking your $5? Find out for yourself after the jump!

Categories
Arts & Music

Gimme Five! Sara Bell of Regina Hexaphone

Regina Hexaphone has been kicking up a storm in local music since 1997. The band’s seen line-up shifts and activity lulls, but they’ve held steadfast to the rootsy pop/rock sound that’s kept them relevant and front-woman Sara Bell a creative force in local music.

Sure, the band has a way with jangly riffs and hooking melodies, but can one of their own handle our five questions? See for yourself after the jump.

Categories
almanac

ROSS’S ALMANAC for August 2012

Compiled by Kirk Ross

This has been quite a summer so far. July 2012 will be remembered as among the driest – number five on the all-time list for the United States. It was also a reminder that it’s probably time I dropped my annoying custom of refusing to use the word “hot” until August. June and July were plenty hot, especially that string of days above 100. If the climate’s going to change, I might as well too.

As extreme as the heat has been, the tropics have been fairly calm. You may recall that the season began with a couple of named storms before hurricane season officially started. Since then, it’s been quiet – too quiet.

There’s some indication that the season will start to busy up a bit. Texas, the Gulf Coast and the Mississippi Valley sure could use a soaker. We’re not quite as dry, but a little light tropical relief would certainly be welcome.

August is one of those months in which the extent of daylight changes at quick pace. We lose almost a full hour over the course of the month.

Aug. 1 – Sunrise: 6:24 a.m.; Sunset: 8:21 p.m.
Aug. 31 – Sunrise: 6:48 a.m.; Sunset: 7:45 p.m.

Full Moon – Aug. 1 Last Quarter – Aug. 9
New Moon – Aug. 17 First Quarter – Aug. 24
Full Moon – Aug. 31

The full moon in August is the Red Moon, Green Corn Moon, Sturgeon Moon, Grain Moon, Lightning Moon and Dog Moon

Planets & Stars
Over the month, three bright objects – Saturn, Mars and Spica – slowly converge and then diverge low in the early-evening western sky. Look for Saturn about 5 degrees (half the width of a fist held at arm’s length) above Spica, a bright bluish-white star. Mars lies to the right (west) of Saturn and Spica until nearly mid-month, when Mars passes in between them, heading to the left (east). Jupiter and Venus dominate the eastern morning sky; Venus is the brighter and lower of the two planets. At mid-month Mercury pops up in the eastern morning twilight.
—Amy Sayle, Morehead Planetarium and Science Center

Significant dates
August is Water Quality Month, Catfish Month, Peach Month and National Picnic Month.
• Aug. 3 is National Watermelon Day
• U.S. Coast Guard Day and National Mustard Day are on Aug. 4
• Left Hand Day is Aug. 13
• National Creamsicle Day is Aug. 14
• National Bad Poetry Day is Aug. 18
• Kiss and Make Up Day is Aug. 25
• National Dog Day is Aug. 26

Categories
Featured

Trees

You may have noticed that we’ve had a lot of trees in the paper lately.

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Featured

FAUNA: Hidden in Plain Sight

by Mary Parker Sonis
North Carolina leads the nation in two distinct categories: We produce the finest basketball players in the country and we hold the dubious distinction of leading the nation in snakebites.

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Featured

The basics of tartar sauce

by Kirk Ross

One of the keys to any decent civilization is a ready supply of fresh-baked bread, and to the delight of many, there finally seems to be enough of the stuff floating around the Triangle.

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Featured

HOP LINE: Beer Cellaring

Good things come
to those who wait

by Evan Crouch
It’s been said that patience is a virtue. This age-old axiom rings especially true in the realm of beer cellaring.

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Featured

TASTE OF THE TOWN


Venable

The newest addition to Carrboro’s restaurant scene, Venable Rotisserie Bistro is certainly off to a good start.

Categories
Featured

CAUGHT ON FILM


Writer-Director Rob Underhill
by Margot C. Lester
Filmmaker Rob Underhill’s latest project is a “sci-fi featurette” based on the Carrington Event.