The handful of people who have been plotting the course of a $30 million events center in downtown Durham came face to face last week with fundamental questions of why and whether the city needs such a venue. At a meeting of the events center advisory committee last Thursday, it appeared the project was losing […]
Fiona Morgan
Posted inNews
Demise of theater plan is a relief
Now that Clear Channel is out of the picture, downtown Durham activists see the perfect opportunity for the city to go back to square one and look critically at whether the city should build a theater downtown. “We’ve always felt that the city needed to be saved from its own bad project,” says Alex Kostelink, […]
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in local girls made good
This Friday and Saturday night, Aug. 27-28, Tift Merritt unveils her new album, Tambourine, with two CD-release party shows at the Cat’s Cradle. Early reviews say the new disc is more upbeat and a little less country than Bramble Rose, her introspective 2002 debut on Lost Highway records. As Raleigh native Merritt faces the world […]
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WCOM, P2P and the demise of BZB
At a time when cell phone companies are rolling out models with TV screens, radio may seem like a quaint technology. But its sheer simplicity is what makes it a powerful medium. All it takes is a transmitter and an antenna, and you’ve got a signal that can reach several miles. Carrboro’s new community radio […]
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Don’t mess with Molly Ivins
Who could have foreseen the long national nightmare that is the Bush presidency? Well, Molly Ivins had a pretty good idea of what it would be like. As a syndicated political columnist in Dallas, she watched generations of crony capitalist Republicans who set the stage for Bush’s governorship. Her book Shrub: The Short but Happy […]
Posted inMusic
Everything I ever needed to know I learned at rock camp
Everything I ever needed to know I learned at rock camp by fiona morgan It’s amazing to see a 10-year-old wrap her small hands around the neck of a guitar and make a big noise, or to watch a little girl bang the hell out of the drums, with a smile on her face, and […]
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Size isn’t everything
There are many ways in which Houston is different from Durham. It has nearly two million people compared to Durham’s nearly 200,000. It has ballet, opera and resident theater companies that make up a thriving downtown theater district. Houston has made a commitment to its arts and music scenes that Durham has yet to fully […]
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Downtown’s Long Awaited Renaissance is Under Way
Durham has been on the verge of a renaissance for years, it seems. Anyone who drives through its streets and sees the dozens of empty old buildings can see the potential for a vibrant, interesting downtown. Many of the buildings’ owners are speculating, waiting to cash out at just the right time when the prices […]
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Campus downloading made legal
The thing is rigged: A small handful of corporations own the nation’s broadcast and cable networks, television stations, radio stations, newspapers and movie theaters. Even many Internet services, book and magazine publishers, record labels and billboard operators are part of the same corporate media machine. The public’s hunger for independent sources and dissenting voices is […]
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New blood, different types, on two boards
Pundits be damned. Endorsements, pshaw. Orange County voters–the 21 percent who voted in last week’s primary, that is–chose a surprising lineup of candidates to head its Board of County Commissioners and county school board. Their choices–incumbent Moses Carey and challenger Valerie Foushee–didn’t match up with those of the many political action committees, prompting a new […]