Cary, NC – It wasn’t that long ago, that I was reading my kids Goodnight Moon, the classic book for children by Margaret Wise Brown with illustrations by Clement Hurd.

Goodnight Moon is about all the things that can get in the way of going to sleep: “goodnight bears, goodnight chairs, goodnight kittens, goodnight mittens.”

64 years after its original publication, Goodnight iPad is an update for the digital age by author David Milgrim (writing as Ann Droyd). Now it’s iPads and MP3s, NetFlix and Doom that are keeping us awake.

Tip-of-the-hat to laughingsquid.com.

Video: Goodnight iPad

Cary, NC – Hard on the heels of our story about the Fox in Stone Creek comes this video of the deer in the Baptist church. It happened right here in Cary at Colonial Baptist Church at 6051 Tryon Rd.

The Deer in the Baptist Church

According to reports, the deer jumped through the window on Monday afternoon,  June 13. The church was full of people at the time. Colonial Baptist Director of Security and Safety Ed Maness wrote a hilarious account of the deer incident.

Best of all, it’s on video.

Video: The Buck Stops Here

The deer invasion was recorded from beginning to end on Coloinal’s security cameras. The footage has been edited down with an appropriately light-hearted sound track.

As reported on CB, “no people or animals were harmed during this incident.”

Thanks to Colonial Baptist for sharing the video. As of Friday, June 24, it had 47,611 views on YouTube.

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Cary, NC – Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary has added several more shows to the Summer line up.

Styx

If it’s classic progressive rock you’re after, get some tix for Styx on September 16.

If it’s been too long or your can’t remember anything prior to 1990, Styx had big hits with Lady, Come Sail Away and Mr. Roboto.

Watch a Styx Mix on YouTube.

Temptations & Four Tops

Nothing says good-times like the music of Motown. And two of Motown’s best will be sharing the bill at KBA on Saturday July 30.

Just to refresh your memory, the Four Tops had hits including Standing in the Shadows of Love, Bernadette and Sugar Pie Honey Bunch. Listen to some classic Four Tops on YouTube.

The Temps had a massive string of hits including My Girl, Ball of Confusion, Get Ready and Cloud Nine.

Watch a clip of the Temptations from 1965 performing My Girl on YouTube.

Ray LaMontagne

Ray LaMontagne may not be a household name like the Temps or the 4 Tops, but you’d probably recognize his hit song Trouble. LaMontagne is a singer-songwriter from Maine with a husky voice that sounds a little a blend of soul and Cat Stevens.

Watch Trouble on YouTube.

Death Cab for Cutie at Booth

The pattern seems to be that acts are booking the venues later and later this year. Witness the last-minute show by Prince recently compared to the multi-month hoopla when U2 visited.

In any event, it’s good news to see a contemporary band of Death Cab’s stature coming to KBA. The show is scheduled for Monday August 8, 2011.

Death Cab For Cutie (the name comes from a pulp fiction title) had it’s start in 1998 but achieved commercial succcess in 2005 with the release of mega-hits Soul Meets Body and Crooked Teeth.

It’s singer-songwriter stuff, but with a smart. eclectic band. The music is tuneful for rock and roll, with interesting harmonies and instrumentation. Death Cab’s songs tell a story. Yet, somehow, it all remains pretty simple. To my ear, I hear a musical relationship to The Decemberists.

If that didn’t tell you everything you need to know, just listen to the clip:

Death Cab has a new album coming out in May, so this tour is sure to be promoting new material. Browse more Death Cab for Cutie material on YouTube.

Event Details

Death Cab for Cutie
Monday, August 8, 2011
Booth Amphitheatre
Cary, N.C.

Tickets were not yet available at the time of this publication, but check the Booth Amphitheatre website.

Alex Wong is coming to Cary Ballet Conservatory

Cary, NC - Have you noticed how “relevant” Cary seems to have become over the past few years? We must be, as we have national stars visiting us on a regular basis, the latest being Alex Wong.

Maybe you’ve seen him on So You Think You Can Dance. Or maybe you’ve seen Twilex- Alex and Twitch Hip Hop – a YouTube video with over 2 million views. Yeah, Alex Wong is a dance phenom. And he’s coming to Cary to do a workshop for dancers.

CBC Workshop with Alex Wong

Deana Seay, Ballet Mistress for Cary Ballet,  has invited Alex to teach master classes next weekend at Cary Ballet Conservatory. He will be in Cary on February 12th and 13th putting on the Conservatory’s Valentine’s Dance Workshop.

When asked about his trip to Cary, Wong said “I am so excited to be coming to North Carolina to teach and work with the dancers at CBC.  After dancing with Deanna Seay for many years, as well as being a close friend of mine, Deanna extended and invitation for me to teach at CBC as she told me how hard working and dedicated the students are.  I look forward to seeing the talent in North Carolina!”

The Cary Connection

Alex became a principal soloist with the Miami City Ballet when he was 17, after winning the prestigious “Prix de Lausanne” competition. And that is the connection to Cary. Ms. Seay danced for twenty one years with the Miami City Ballet after graduating as a student of Melissa Hayden from the (University of) North Carolina School of the Arts in 1989. While at Miami City Ballet she was named a Principal Dancer in 1998, and was featured extensively throughout the repertoire.

Deana performed a broad spectrum of Balanchine ballets, receiving critical acclaim for performances in roles ranging from the second pas de trois in Agon, and the principal female role in Square Dance, to principal roles in Allegro Brillante, Concerto Barocco and Diamonds from the full-length Jewels. She moved this past summer to Cary and became the Cary Ballet Conservatory’s Ballet Mistress. The studio is excited for the opportunities that Ms Seay has to offer her new students.

Reserve Your Spot

If you want to take part in CBC’s Valentine’s Dance Workshop with Alex Wong, call Cary Ballet Conservatory at 919-481-6509 to reserve your spot.  See the weekend’s planned schedule here. Space is limited and once it is sold out no additional spaces can be added.

Cary, NCorth Carolina, Wednesday January 25, 2011 – This morning, Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht delivered the State of the Town address for 2011 to a packed house at Prestonwood Country Club. The annual event is sponsored by the Cary Chamber of Commerce.

Main Themes

For those of you who read Harold’s Blog on CaryCitizen, you already know that the Mayor has been working on the SOTT speech for many weeks. The address was delivered on video in late December and the full text is available online at townofcary.org.

The Cary Chamber event today was a chance for the Mayor, Town Council and Staff to gauge the response of the business community to the ideas in the annual address.

Like many leaders across America, Mayor Weinbrecht led with a discussion of business and the economy of the town. Unlike many others, the news in Cary was pretty good.

“We’ve continued to maintain a remarkably hot business climate, being one of the few areas in the country where businesses continue to want to locate, relocate, and expand. While our nation, state, and even surrounding communities are suffering from unemployment rates hovering near double digits, Cary’s unemployment rate continues to fall from nearly 7 percent 18 months ago to now just over 5 percent.” – State of the Town address

The Mayor devoted significant time to talking about the environment (green initiatives and water), police and fire (awards and accomplishments) and the business of sports (economic impact on Cary). He finished up with comments about the Community Arts Center (opening this spring) and the Town budget ($12 million surplus).

“So, once again, I’m happy to report that Cary begins 2011 as one of the best places in the United States to live, work, run a business, and raise a family.

…With the help of the businesses and residents of Cary, we will remain one of the greatest places to live in the United States.” – State of the Town address

State of the Town Video

Here is Mayor Weinbrecht’s 2011 State of the Town Address in its entirety. Thanks to Town of Cary Public Information for making this content available.

Cary NC State of the Town Address 2011 on Vimeo.

OMG – These Guys Can Sing

The “3 Tenors” genre was invented by Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo and José Carreras – classical voices singing popular music. The Canadian Tenors continue the tradition. Their singing is achingly beautiful. Give a listen to their performance of “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen.

About the Canadian Tenors

The Canadian Tenors currently have a special airing on PBS. They are coming off of a whirlwind holiday season – with 16 concerts (all sold out) in almost as many cities.

The Tenors’ (Victor Micallef, Clifton Murray, Remigio Pereira, Fraser Walters) music is blend of classical and contemporary pop. They have performed at the Tel Aviv Opera house, Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Coliseum and NYC’s Madison Square Gardens. They’ve played Toronto’s Air Canada Centre where they headlined at ONE NIGHT LIVE with Sting and Sheryl Crow, and in Sarah McLachlan’s Summer Sessions concert with Neil Young and in London with the legendary Paul McCartney at the Old Vic theatre.

The Tenors have performed for President Barack Obama and all of the leaders at the G20 summit in Toronto as well as President Bill Clinton, Prime Minister Tony Blair, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, President George W Bush and President Shimon Peres.

The Canadian Tenors have given their talents to charity as well. Recently, they filmed a documentary in Africa, singing with local children in Bulembu, Swaziland, a town growing out of horrible suffering, to help bring awareness to their plight.

Details

February 9th, 2011
7:30 pm
Doors Open at 6:45 pm

Tickets must be purchased through Cary Academy.

General Admission Ticket Price: $50
On-line $55.00, purchase tickets at www.caryacademy.org

Story by Hal Goodtree

Cary, NC – By now, most of you probably know that fitness pioneer Jack LaLanne died on Saturday at the age of 96. For all of us in Cary who take our adult fitness seriously, we owe a debt of gratitude to the Father of American Fitness.

In Tribute to Jack: Talk a Walk

Jack’s story is legendary – troubled youth, conversion to a life of fitness, perhaps the first health club in the world (1930′s, California) and his own TV show (1950′s – 1980′s). More than anyone else, he turned a “crackpot” fad into a modern way of life.

In tribute to Jack LaLanne, I’m take a moment today to highlight Cary’s extensive network of greenways. Get out and take a hike this week in honor of the fitness pioneer who walked the walk into his 96th year.

34 Miles of Greenway

Cary has 35 greenways. Some are paved, others are not.

Greenways are generally located in floodplain areas, along wooded stream corridors unsuitable for development. Often these corridors that harbor Cary’s greenway trails provide access to these pristine areas that otherwise would have been lost. – Town of Cary

The Town has been building greenways since 1980 to bring access to nature into our neighborhoods.

35 Greenways to Choose

The Town lists 35 greenways. The longest (Black Creek) is over 7 miles. The shortest (Glenkirk) is less than a quarter mile.

Visit Greenways or download the Bike & Hike PDF.

To get inspired, watch this classic scene from The Jack LaLanne Show about why people are unhappy.

Cary, NC – For America to maintain a top quality workforce in the coming decades, science, technology and math education needs to be a priority.

Toward that end, 100 top U.S. CEOs have banded together to form ChangeTheEquation.org. In their own words, “Change the Equation aligns corporate efforts in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education to ensure that they add up to real, measurable growth in the achievement and STEM fluency of our nation’s young people.”

Part of the challenge is make those subjects attractive to the current generation of students. In the parlance of our children, growing up to be a scientist, mathematician or engineer has to be a “cool” career choice.

Change the Equation challenged its member companies to produce brief videos featuring an employee or group of employees who use math or science in exciting or unexpected ways. Many companies answered the call.

SAS won.

Congratulations to a Cary company and a flagship of the technology industry. Show this video to your kids.

Yes, Virginia, it’s cool to be a scientist, mathematician or engineer. In fact, it rocks.

You can also see this video on YouTube.
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SPONSOR

Education coverage sponsored by Goodtree & Co, Inc.

Cary, NC – In January, our gardens look pretty dormant. Did you know that now is the ideal time to plant many things including trees and shrubs?

The roots grow in the winter while the plants look asleep above ground. Put a tree in the garden now and it will thrive in the spring.

Planting a Tree the Right Way

Our good friends at Garden Supply Company sponsored this short video on the right way to plant a tree in clay soil, they kind we have here in Cary.

Keith Ramsey demonstrates planting a tree in about two minutes flat. He’s a tree ninja. His dog Maggie also makes a cameo appearance. She doesn’t plant anything.

Whether you’re a green thumb or just like getting your hands dirty, start the New Year off right by getting any necessary trees and shrubs in the ground while our long North Carolina growing season takes a brief nap.

Sponsor

The Gardening Channel on CaryCitizen is sponsored by Garden Supply Company.