It’s all about having game–in this one, it has to be in the form of a question: Who is Heather Canipe? Answer: She’s a North Carolina teaching fellow and senior at N.C. State from Newton, N.C., who was one of the last contestants to make it into the final invitation-only rounds of Jeopardy! when it comes to Raleigh in October to tape the 2005 college champions show.

“I have always wanted to be on Jeopardy,” Canipe said excitedly after taking part in tryouts at the Talley Student Center at NCSU. She was told that she’d receive a VIP invitation to come back later in the evening for the final qualifying round, which is the last step before meeting host Alex Trebek face to face.

Her boyfriend, Lee Cobb, wasn’t so fortunate.

“The sad story is, I didn’t win. I was sure that I’d gotten six questions right,” he said. Cobb confessed that he’s not an entertainment news junkie and realized that may have foiled his once-in-a-lifetime chance for stardom.

“She’s the smart one,” he said.

Stay tuned. Show execs said they’d let us know how Canipe did in late September.

Not-so Lazy Daze …
Just think ’bout it–a year to plan, over 100 volunteers, 400 vendors from 19 states (some as far away as California), and a quick turn-around time from when the streets are cleared to popping up tents overnight. And then it’s show time for the Town of Cary’s 29th annual Lazy Daze Arts & Crafts Festival.

“Spread the gospel of pancakes,” shouted Jim Smith who, along with an army of First United Methodist Church men and Cary Rotarians, served up at least 400 servings of pancakes at Saturday’s festival.

Most of the men and women arrive at the crack of dawn to begin the hard work of cooking–except for one. Jay Cashwell was a little late for his shift flipping pancakes. “It’s nothing lazy about this day,” he said. “I woke up at 5 a.m. but made it here by 5:20.” And from the sweat on his brow, I could see that he was back in their good graces as he worked with pancake batter covering his shirt and floated to different morning tasks in the hot kitchen.

Rick Kiber, a longtime Cary resident, said after a hard day’s work, “I am going home and go to sleep–actually take a nap.”

Some of the guys took to the streets with shopping carts of pancakes and coffee for vendors.

Just when I thought the Lazy Daze prophesy of hard work and no rest was being fulfilled, I happened to catch one of Cary’s finest, Keith Ray, taking a break from the action to feast on pancakes–I guess he was being just plain lazy as he perched on the brick wall in front of Cary Elementary School.

One worker admitted to working for 24 hours and returning home only to take a shower before going back to work. He and co-workers promised to talk again as they sped off on a green Gaiter.

Lyman Collins, cultural arts supervisor, took a quick break from giving instructions over a walkie-talkie and explained the concept of this street festival. “What we’re doing is not so lazy. We created an atmosphere so people can enjoy the lazy hazy days of summer,” Collins said as he sped off in another direction.

“It’s not lazy for us,” Ken Berry said, sweating profusely and, along with Tony Chung and Joe Pratt, pulling two coolers full of water and soft drinks down the main drag to support the Cary Band Boosters. This year the band will be playing at Lincoln Center (I remember the hometown band accepting an invitation in the late 1970s to play in the Tournament of Roses Parade. Not so lazy, either).

“It is organized chaos,” said Lt. Tracy Jernigan of the Cary Police Department. He thanked all of the town staff, including festival coordinator Joy Cox.

So what is lazy about Lazy Daze? Absolutely nothin’. Night Seen After hearing much hype about the Lime Light, a North Raleigh nightclub, I found it right behind the Wendy’s on Six Forks Road. There I met Durham rap artist and Hillside High graduate Twip. He was in town after a whirlwind tour of the South touting his new record deal with Iced Records.

We chilled for a few minutes, gleaning such news as: He will be a proud papa in the coming months and looks forward to a new kind of wrap, I’m sure. Now Twip, who could keep this one a secret?

Coming up: Remembering Luther Vandross through the band Sweet Dreams on Sunday, Sept. 4, at Tavola Rossa restaurant behind Crabtree Valley Mall. An evening under the stars–what better way to remember one of our most beloved R&B artists of all time. For information, call 601-8844.