Avenue Q: Under Review

Before Wednesday night, I was very excited to see Avenue Q. I’d heard such wonderful things from many different people who had seen the show one, two or even three times before. The anticipation had been building, and I was prepared to see the show of my life. Unfortunately, Avenue Q just wasn’t that show. The raunchy humor I was so eagerly waiting for ultimately made me feel uncomfortable at its worst and bored at its best.

The show follows recent college graduate Princeton to a divey neighborhood on Avenue Q in New York City. Princeton searches for his purpose on his new street, and meets new friends who have also lost their ways. Two-thirds of the characters are puppets, including Princeton, which gives the musical charm similar to that of Sesame Street. However, ultimately the musical fell flat for me by relying on shock value for its jokes, which I just didn’t find funny. There were some touching moments, and the singing was phenomenal, but at the end of the day, songs like “The Internet Is For Porn” got old fast. If you’re someone who enjoys off-color humor, and doesn’t over analyze jokes, then I’d still suggest this show for you, but otherwise I would give it a pass.

Scvngr Hits Durham!

Scvngr is a new and cool app for iPhones and Android phones that lets you visit cities with purpose! It provides itineraries of things to do all over different cities, now including Durham! There are also fun challenges and activities to do at each location, such as looking for clues or facts, taking a picture of something specific, or meeting a person at the location. The Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau is very excited about the launch of Scvngr in Durham and thinks it will be a great entrance for Durham into the smartphone app world. The Scvngr “treks” will be fairly broad for now, with the potential to be more targeted to particular events or seasons in the future. Scvngr is launching this week in Durham so download the app now and start trekking!

Hub Mascot Contest

Get inspiration for your mascot design from all of these cool youtube videos and pictures! You can use spray paint, markers and even glitter!

baller munny

Martha Stewart likes munnys

creepy munny

adorable video

Billy Elliot Ticket Giveaway

We gave away 2 pairs of Billy Elliot tickets last week to the two people with the most "liked" hubified phrases on facebook! The winning phrases were: "HUBBITS OF THE SHIRE" and "I got 99 problems, but a hub ain't one." Congratulations to the winners! Look out for more ticket giveaways in the future to go to awesome shows!

Here are some cool pictures from one winner at the event!

N.C. State Fair

I attended my first-ever state fair this past month at the N.C. State Fair. It was more of an experience than I could have possibly imagined. I was completely overwhelmed from start to finish. To begin, I drove my friends Ben, Adria, Star and John to the fair. It was a crazy evening for traffic and the trip took nearly an hour. We had printed out the directions from the State Fair website, and I felt confident I knew where we were going because I’d been to the state farmers market at the same location before. However, once we got on the road and saw the traffic, we became convinced there was a new traffic pattern in place because of the fair. At the last second, we decided to take the exit before the one on our directions because we thought it was safest to follow the crowd. Since most of the cars in the traffic were North Carolina cars, we figured it was a safe bet they were going to the state fair. In retrospect, this was a ridiculous assumption and North Carolina cars could just have easily been going anywhere, seeing as this is North Carolina.

We were finally off the highway and following signs and traffic to “the stadium.” The signs were a little suspicious, and I started getting worried that we were going the wrong way. However, our fears were quickly assuaged by the people we deemed “state fair goers” walking along the road to their cars. We were nervous we wouldn’t find parking with all these people walking in the opposite direction, but we were at least convinced we were going the right way. We were directed to turn into a series of parking lots, the first of which was labeled “Parking for Rowdy Friends.” The car was divided on what this sign meant, so we decided to drive on. We were eventually directed to a lot with plenty of spots, and we parked and got out of the car. We walked up to the RBC center, and it finally hit us: we definitely weren’t at the state fair. After a minor freak out, we asked a parking attendant how to get there, and he told us just to walk toward the lights. Luckily we found a random trolley shuttling people from the RBC center to the fair, and we were there in no time.

The fair itself was incredible. The lights, the people, the aromas and the sounds were mesmerizing. We ate fried Oreos, funnel cake, fried Milky Way, fried Snickers and fried pecan pie. Shortly after, we decided to ride the swings. We were already tired of the swings’ soundtrack after waiting in line for a few minutes. Along with bopping 60s tunes, a loud speaker projected repeatedly: “Have you had enough? Tell me, have you had enough? Are you sure you’ve had enough?” The swings were enjoyable but we were interested in something a little more adventurous. The rickety roller coaster looked appealing, and we went to check it out. The track, balanced on wood blocks on the ground, shook every time the car sped over it. It looked terrifying and perfect. I thought I was going to die numerous times during the ride, but thankfully I was sitting next to Ben, and not a stranger. He had been rather annoying during the swings, kicking my swing until the attendant reprimanded me, but he was much more helpful on the coaster. (He hasn’t told anyone exactly what I was yelling as I saw my life flash before me on the ride of terror.) All in all, it was quite the enjoyable evening, and I definitely want to go again!

Some things we learned for the future:

1. The food and rides are better the farther into the fair you go

2. Bring a jacket because you’ll be freezing after each ride

3. Things at the state fair come in two sizes: world's largest and world's smallest

4. Don’t follow traffic that’s actually going to a Hank Williams Jr. concert

5. We’ll never know who the Rowdy Friends are

CenterFest: Time For An Update

This year's CenterFest was heavily marketed around Durham to encourage new people to come and to excite former attendees. However, this year's event was just as disappointing as last year's for many visitors. The biggest complaint: CenterFest is in a parking lot. Overall, visitors felt that the parking lot limited the event and highlighted how cheesy and overgrown it has become. CenterFest was more commercialized than ever this year featuring many big name sponsors and urging visitors to donate at every opportunity. The festival has transformed over decades from an event showcasing local art on the streets of Durham to a continuous stream of sponsors, such as Ford and Glade stuffed in a parking lot. Many attendees yearned for the days when CenterFest sprawled across the streets of downtown Durham and showcased local artists and a variety of cuisines, rather than cheap street food. However, hope is not lost for Durham art fair lovers. Durham Art Walk is hailed as a much better alternative to CenterFest and is free! On Saturday and Sunday, November 20th and 21st, come get all of your holiday shopping done while enjoying music and food at Durham Art Walk!

NC Cuisine with a kick

Last night I had a chance to dine at one of my all time favorite Durham restaurants, Watts Grocery. From the creative talents of local chef Amy Tornquists Watts Grocery is dedicated to offering stellar North Carolina cuisine from local suppliers, many within about two hours of the restaurant. Her menu changes seasonally and I believe last night marked the beginning of the summer menu, which made my decisions very hard as everything seemed to be calling my name.

We began with a couple of appetizers including the Farmer's Market Cheese Plate with honeyed walnuts, a great combo of flavors thoughtfully packed together, the Sauteed Shrimp and house-cured bacon on a biscuit (you can't avoid ordering anything biscuit related here), and the Southern Bruschetta, which was flavorful and intensely fresh tasting. I think I'd be hard pressed to find an appetizer that invoked the image of garden fresh more so than the Southern Bruschetta, it is a great fit for a summer menu.

Our table debated entree choices for what seemed like forever seeing as how this task meant choosing one delicious dish over another equally delicious dish, but we settled on the Ribeye with shitake mushroom smashed potatoes, a steak that my friend gushed about for well over an hour. We also ordered the South Carolina Frogmore Stew which is a traditional dish served with crabmeat, shrimp, andouille sausage, and veggies in a seafood broth that both smelled and tasted great; another landslide victory. And finally the Honey Glazed Duck with poached blackberries, I mean really, how does that even sound like something you can avoid? My taste buds were truly thankful as the combo of the sweet blackberries and the salty, buttery duck meat helped me forget something like Bieber Fever exists in the world.

Our amazingly friendly and comical server, Naomi, was a bonus to the evening, capping off our experience with a gold star. It's always great to have a server that will help you pronounce items on the menu, and even though I still don't know what a rillet tastes like, I do know how to pronounce it (ri-yay); good for me. She also made a great meal that much better upon recommending some explosive desserts which included a cobbler with the catchy name: the Summer Berry Slump. I had one, and had a hard time not ordering a second.

If you are in the mood for a sophisticated yet not at all pretentious dinning experience that you'll remember for a long time, you need to check out Watts Grocery and their new summer menu. I can't wait to head back and sample some of the other items that just couldn't fit in my belly.


http://www.wattsgrocery.com/