Durhamarma

It's been a mad mad week in Durham, NC. As I posted a few days ago a duke Ph.D student was murdered. Since then there has been a spree of people being held up at gun point. This includes somebody in my research group. They think they have the people who did it according to WRAL. It has been a scary week and also a week of paranoia. It was pretty scary walking to the pub the other day as somebody was sat on a wall. I'm sure they had an innocent reason to be there and I have walked past this same wall with people on it maybe 100 times. The paranoia got to me and it went through my mind that I was going to get mugged and/or shot. They win if you start thinking like that.

What does need to be looked at is the divide in Durham of the haves (i.e. in general white people connected with duke) and the havenots (i.e. a lot of the African-American/Hispanic populations). While this is a big generalisation, it is for the most part sadly true. Durham could have so much to offer but people are scared of it. Everywhere else in the triangle is expensive. Downtown Durham could be so much fun... we just need one first, this in turn would create jobs and maybe take the emphasis off the great divide. I know it won't solve all the problems but it could be a start.

Anyways on a lighter note. It snowed last weekend, here is the view from my porch.

Google Search Terms

Here is a list of search terms that people have used and found this blog, thanks to the good people at stalkcounter for the information. I don't know if I should be pleased or slight worried. If you type superman pants into google, I am top 10. Woo hoo. I really hope that the top one from this list isn't somebody trying to find me. Although it looks like people are trying to find Ryan Hill. So if you are looking for him I can tell you where he lives. Nutters welcome.

crazy brit nc
streets of philadelphia cftpa blogspot
streets of philadelphia casiotone blogspot
pub golf nyc
"1600 block anderson street, durham"
casiotone for the painfully alone streets of philadelphia
cameron crazies and chef hats
dronfield sunday lunch
duke basketball lede
"beerfest wilmington,nc 2008"
who did el gigante play basketball for
"dunkin donuts, nc hockey contest"
pub golf nyc
mocha pronunciation english
derbyshire north carolina
duke shit basketball
affair with landlord
t-shirt myfootballclub
going to carolina december
casiotone streets of philadelphia blogspot
el gigante raleigh nc pic
superman pants
filmed in wilmington nc
duke basketball action shots
superman pants
afrobats central park
manhattan island north carolina
dan may chapel hill
"derbyshire, north carolina"
derbyshire north carolina
mcdonalds manhattan island
filmed in wilmington nc
gut melting
afrobats new york
mankini uk
red collar band
el gigante north carolina
sports bars in wilmington nc with english soccer
polish mead blog
wrightsville beach pelicans
ciemas
gigante carolina
queens brooklyn accent
pub golf american version
pub golf american version
"the el gigante, north carolina"
"iam going to carolina, song"
el gigante carolina
cameron crazies
3d photos of houses
an american going to yorkshire
ryan hill postdoc
where to eat christmas dinner in southeastern nc
buy yorkshire pudding new york city
el gigante banditos
bbc adverts
dawson's creek house pics wilmington nc
boars breath nc
banditos el gigante
yorkshire pudding nc
"wrightsville beach, nc sea oats"
what to think of when going to north carolina
tales from the bar
dain's place pub quiz
dook basketball
dain's place pub quiz
dain's place pub quiz
ryan hill chilkoti
ryan hill chilkoti
el gigante banditos
banditos el gigante
poll americanness
wrightsville beach t shirts
"dain's place, durham"

Welcome to Durham

I and everyone else related to Duke received this e-mail on Saturday morning:

Alert -- Shooting Death

A man believed to be a Duke University graduate student was found shot to death at an apartment complex in the 1600 block of Anderson Street, several blocks south of the Duke campus, at approximately 11:30 p.m. Friday. According to Duke Police, the incident is under investigation and more information will be shared as it becomes available. Updates will be posted on www.duke.edu/today. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Durham Crimestoppers at (919) 683-1200 or Duke Police at (919) 684-2444.

This is scary stuff. In 2005 there were 37 murders in Durham. I was aware that it was around that figure. I just didn't realise how close to home these can be. Most of the cities I have lived in had some problem like this, but it was mostly in the not so nice areas. I am not really worried, it is just a terrible thing to happen to somebody so young and who had a bright future ahead of them.

Back in Carolina, I think

Well I made it back to NC after a jaunt back to the UK. It was good to see some old faces. It is so difficult to see everyone, so I am sorry if I missed you. I was strange being back. I think I did finally get used to it by the end. Although I did miss NC. It's strange, even though it is really hard leaving friends and family back in the UK and I do miss everyone, I was ready to come back home to dirty D. It does feel like home now. One thing I don't miss about the UK in the winter is the short days and the miserable weather. We get about 2 and a half hours extra of daylight here. Also a big smile on my face.

Speaking of England, here is the end of my road in Dronfield. We got a light dusting of snow. For the colonials, that is a bend in the road.

I really wouldn't recommend doing four transatlantic flights in about 6 weeks. It really does mess with your head. Although my last flight (Philly - Raleigh) was really nice as it was the first time I have chatted to a random on a flight. It was this old guy from NY state and was flying down to see his grandson. We just talked about England and Engineering.

Just in case I hadn't mentioned it, I am now here till March 2009. I hope everyone had a good festive season. I will be updating the blog more from now on. I am even buying a new camera. Get me.

Happy Holidays

I just want to wish everyone a great festive season. Normal service on the blog will return in the new year. Expect some drunken and maybe even some normal photos from jolly old England.

Mankini pub golf

To celebrate me going back to the UK and passing my viva I let my sister organise a night out. True to form it involved a drink...

... or three

The idea was to do pub golf down Division St in sheffield. As I said my sister made it up so it involved me wearing something stupid. A Borat mankini.

I did say we had a few drinks didn't I?
It was a little tight....
But it got a little comfier after a while
Well maybe not
We found out it wasn't that tight.... you can fit Jon and I in
and a few friends....
Introducing 'Kinky Slimer' available for birthdays, weddings etc

Good times! Thank you everyone who made it out. Also thank you to the guys over on this side of the pond for giving me another celebration, my head hurt for a while after that.

Back to the UK and back again

I have been away for a while as I had to go back to England to 'defend my thesis' or have my viva voce (depending on where your from). I passed with minor corrections just in case you didn't know. I am pretty chuffed with it, even if it hasn't really sunk in yet.

I was a strange week back in the UK. It was great to see all the old faces, family and friends. Sheffield has changed, loads of new buildings, but it was great to here the accent especially people calling each other 'luv'. Dronfield is still the same, as ever. That is comforting though. It was still really strange being back, I don't think I really got used to it at all. I was only back for a week.

The things that made it strange were the little things. The way roads look (apart from the obvious), here they just don't have the gentle curves we have, here they are wide and things make sense. The difference here is somebody thought about what was going on back in the UK some guy just went ooh that looks like the quickest way to get me sheep down the hill so I can get to the pub.

I have also got used to shopping here. The 'Hi, how are you?' ..... 'Have a nice day' that you always get. Paper or plastic? I never try and add my shopping up as the tax is always added later. Paying by card. I went to the Sainsbury's in Dronfield and you get a sweaty teenager serving you with all the social skills of a wet sponge and a granny paying in coppers. I am not saying the American or the English way is better but the American way is not as annoying as 'Have a nice day' is portrayed, in most cases it's not as false either and you do actually get genuine conversations. Maybe it because I'm in the south y'all.

I was also quite surprised about my lack of jet lag. I experimented getting up 2 hours early the week before flying back. This is so I would be 'fresher'. It worked, after two days I was pretty normal for me. My air miles are gonna be great as I will have racked up about 15,000 in just over a month.

One very nice thing about being back is that it was 26 C today. Not the kind of weather you get mid December in blighty.

Thanksgiving

Today is thanksgiving in the US. It's a pretty strange day for someone not being from the US but a welcome day off from work and and an excuse to eat if nothing more. The food is pretty much a variation on the Sunday roast/Christmas dinner we all know and love in the UK, except with more American foods like sweet potatoes. The nice thing is that the build up to Christmas is not as visible as in the UK, so it's not saturated. Here are my experiences of two different thanksgivings.

My first was an annual bash put on by Andy as a pre-thanksgiving warm up before people head home for the holidays. It is also known as Turkeyfest. I was going to paraphrase the invite but it's quite funny so I shall post it:

Hello all,

The holidays are upon us. There is no better way to start the season that with deep fried turkeys (yes, plural), casserole as far as the eye can see, and desserts from pillars of the Triangle baking community.

It is time once again for the annual Thanksgiving gathering at the HQ II. For those new to the event, it promises gluttony, good times, and some of the most intense dining you can imagine. For those that were here last year, we're looking to break the record which means six turkeys over the course of the afternoon. In addition, if Luke shows up, we'll have at least two Indians, adding to the overall authenticity.

For those of you can make it, the rules are simple:

1. RSVP ASAP with what you are planning on bringing, anything from full turkeys to cranberry riddy to halloween cookies, we've seen it all. We'll have the deep fryer and a grill for use for those that want to cook another turkey and/or twinkies. We'll also have 2 turkeys, 1 oven roasted and 1 deep fried, and enough canned cranberry sauce for half of Marc.

2. Be creative, be generous, but don't be the napkin guy. Multiples of the same dish are fine, but please use common sense if there are already 3 green bean casseroles coming.

3. The event is socialist in nature, so overt sassiness regarding portion sizes is not acceptable.

4. We've finally removed "the beast" from the last party so let's not have that happen again.

5. While Helen [Andy's car] is a part of the family, she's not allowed to eat people food.

Feel free to bring significant others and the inevitable people who should have been on the guest list. We hope to see you all there, food/drink in tow.

It was great fun, in the end there was 5 turkeys and a Turducken (turkey-duck-chicken) all in one. Deep-fried WHOLE turkey is interesting! To say the least. It does taste good but it doesn't half spit when you put it in the fryer. All in all it was a good day out, the weather was fantastic so we could all sit out side, chat, watch the world go by, throw the American football about etc. I was so surprised at the quality of the food. Most of it was homemade and it was great. Also I found out if you try and deep-fry a turducken they do an alien chest burster impression except with birds and hot oil. I am going to try that one day, well maybe.


My thanksgiving today was a pleasant surprise. I felt bad for turning down LAM!LAM!'s thanksgiving bash but I had to study and go to bed early. I was just going to cook myself a little Sunday Lunch type affair. My landlord came round and asked if I wanted to come round to his, as his wife was away. So I got some turkey after all, and a chat with my landlord. It was a nice day, and I get to go to bed early. Boo. Hopefully I will be around next year for more festive fun.

PS just found this video, it's a quick tour of the Raleigh/Durham area.

Fall on Campus

Here are a few snaps I took today of campus while I was going to get my visa validated so I'm allowed back in the US. The weather is great at the moment, clear blue skies and still slightly warm. It makes so much difference not being grey, wet and windy all the time. We also get slightly longer days than the UK.

I will try and get some more autumnal shots later this week as the 'fall colors' will be gone by the time I'm back.

Duke Basketball

Here is my photos from a Blue Devils game. Apparently getting tickets for a 'Dook' (as the local say it, and the occasional ahem slip from me) basketball game is like finding rocking horse shit. How I found myself at the first game of the season I am still not entirely sure. I am guessing it was because the opponent was NCCU and are considered not as good as Dook even though they are also located in Dirty D. I was looking forward to it none the less. Andy was 'super pumped' all day and even skipped work to join the grad line. Here is where it all goes off, the Cameron indoor stadium. It's a pretty small stadium, clocking in at less than 10,000, but it's got a pretty good atmosphere.

I found a colonial to sit next too. Who of course was eating a BBQ sandwich (which was actually quite good). Ryan went to UNC Chapel Hill for undergrad, who are dook's main rivals. It's kinda like a Wednesday fan being at BDTBL. He looks happy though, bless 'em the locals do try.

Here is some particularly good photography of the start of the game.

A better action shot. Notice the guy on the floor.

Here are the Cameron Crazies in action. This is a free-throw. The crowd all hold their arms till the ball goes in. Unless the other team are taking it then it's all fair game. The best thing they did was all crouch down on the floor except for a semi-naked guy in lederhosen who proceeded to dance around making noise, I nearly wet myself.

A view of Cameron during the game. All the flags at the top are something that Dook basketball has won. They ain't bad these so called Blue Devils.

Here is a picture of the team during a time-out. The guy in the middle is Michael Krzyzewski (pronounced shuh-shef-skee) or coach K. I think he looks like Dr. Evil. He is pretty much a legend on campus, has been offered loads to coach in the NBA and swears like a trooper. He's that good they even named the floor after him.

Here is another pic of the crazies. The guys in the chefs hats are known as the shuhshefskee chefs. You can even pick Andy out in this photo. He is the one seen shaking a whisk at the opposition. It did indeed show them.

Crazy stuff happens during a time-out. Although disappointingly no time-out chicken is given out. Here is the Duke Blue Devil surfing on the band.

And of course American sports would not be complete without cheerleaders. They did look lovely.