It's here! BTS '08

Bloggin' the Square '08 is Today!Click for deets and directions

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It's here! The Inaugural Bloggin' the Square begins today at 4:00 pm. Rendezvous is on the roof of the parking garage at the corner of S. Blount St. and E. Hargett St. (directly across Blount St from the Marbles Kids' Museum -- formerly Exploris for those who may have known it by that name.)
Raleigh's City Market District (right across the street from Moore Square) has a host of epicurean opportunities available for dinner, or there will be food and beverage vendors at the event itself for those of you more inclined towards alfresco dining. Bring your lawn chairs, and prepare for an evening of free music, people watching and general good times.
The headliners for the show are (in probable order of appearance): Eve 6, Saving Abel and Puddle of Mudd. Other bands (not named on the DTL schedule) will kick off the festivities at 2:00 if you want to show up early. For those inclined to consume frosty malt beverages, make sure you get your wrist bands at the entrance or be prepared to hear the Bier Nazi bark "No beer for you!"
Remember there's no registration stuff to deal with or anything, so if you feel like coming down you won't miss your chance until tomorrow when it's all over.
"What the Fashion Conscious Blogger Will Be Wearing at BTS '08" (Click to embiggen)

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This is the eXtreme Model BTS tee, which is probably a touch over the top but easy to recognize. Early polling results suggest that most participants are planning to opt for a more basic "Sharpie Marker" look. the weather looks like it's going to cooperate, and the park is on the east side of the city "backbone" meaning the shade will commence probably just about rendezvous time. So come on down and party like it's Y2K - 1. We want to meet you!

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Bloggin' the Square '08: No Registration, No Rules, Just Be There

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Looking for today's Thematic Photographic? No worries, it's here

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A couple of days ago, I was talking to Tiff of No Accent Yet when we hit upon one of those ideas that kinda snowballs on ya. If you live in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill (that's North Carolina ya'll) area or you're going to be passing through on Saturday the 23rd, perk up an' pay attention.

The final Downtown Live of the summer is happening on Saturday August 23. For those of you unfamiliar with the series, 96 Rock and some other cool sponsors put together a half-scale replica of a music festival every other Saturday during the summer. Admission is free (but everything else costs) and the headliners don't suck. For the season finale, they've got Puddle of Mudd, Eve 6 and Saving Abel plus some other undisclosed bands that'll play early in the day. The festivities kick off at about 2:00 pm, and go until the noise ordinance puts the skids under them at 11:00.

So we've got free music all afternoon and evening, what else we got? Well Moore Square butts up against City Market which is home to some pretty good places to eat, drink and be merry in between bands. And since this is pretty well getting thrown together at the last minute, we ain't got no steenking agenda. No workshops, no door prizes, no truly organized anythings actually. It's just a chance to meet some fellow area bloggers and put faces with the pages we read (and write) so much of.

About as close as we come to "organizing" is that we're planning to meet up on the top floor of the parking garage on the northwest corner of S. Blount St. and E. Hargett St. at 4:00 pm. (I didn't pick the floor -- Tiff gets the blame credit for that one... but there's an elevator.) Parking in downtown -- especially when there's an event of any kind going on -- is a pain in the arse, but you can find space along the street if you look long enough. If you want to park in the deck, it'll cost you 7 bucks for the night. To me it's worth it, YMMV.

"But Mojo, how will we recognize each other?", you ask. And it's a question I asked myself just last night. And Tiff came up with an elegantly simple solution to the identity crisis. You pick up a plain white t-shirt, and write/draw the name of your blog on it with a Sharpie. Or multiple Sharpie's. Get as creative as you want. And if you're really embarrassed by your handwriting, iron-on transfers are allowed. Or, you can bring your own supplies and I'm betting you can find one of us willing to do the stenciling for you (gratuities are, of course, accepted for such services wink).

And courtesy of the magic that is Google Maps, I can even show ya where we'll be. That big boxy looking thing northwest of the lollipop with the "A" on it is the aforementioned parking deck. Draw a line diagonally across the corner and you have the park. There are entrances to the deck on both sides (S. Blount St and S. Wilmington St.) so if you miss one, it's just a couple of right hand turns to get to the other.


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C'mon and join in. It'll be fun! (dammit!)Stumble This!

Out of Beta, huh?

Hopefully I'll have less trouble logging in now, eh?
It's been a while hasn't it? No, you're not that lucky, I'm still alive and kicking. But since blogging wasn't helping me meet chicks I decided to wait until I had something truly blogworthy to write about before I posted anything new. And this is it.
MoveOn.org has asked the entire bloggin' world to help put the word out on their Virtual Town Meeting with all of the progressive Presidential hopefuls. This meeting's topic is Iraq. Imagine a press conference with 3.2 million reporters and you can get an idea of the kind of chaos that might ensue. So my guess is that you're not going to get a question in unless you're really lucky or know somebody. But it's worth knowing where these folks stand on the issue -- especially since Il Bushe seems to be bent on staying in Iraq until the electoral process pries it from his cold, dead fingers.





This is one of those "Unprecedented Events" you always hear about, so I don't know what to expect from it. That's the thing about unprecedented events... but if you're interested in hearing what people who might be in a position to do something about the war have to say about it, this might be the way to do it. These people want your vote (uh, you do vote, right? good. thought so.) and you can't vote for them all. So educating yourself about their positions is the only way you can make an intelligent decision on which one best represents you. Despite what the electoral process in this contry has become in the last 40 years, it's still the most effective means of bringing about change in the way our country is run. But it depends on the voters being educated on the issues -- and not being led by the sound bite down the garden path to ruin. We've allowed candidates to do this to us because the typical American voter is lazy. We don't bother to research any of the issues and as a result we're swayed by catchy phrases and campaign bumper stickers. This is one way to change that -- even if it's only on one issue. Presumably, if this first event goes well there wil be others to follow on topics important to all of us. For now, I'll settle for a concrete plan to stop our role in the bloodletting in Iraq.Stumble This!