Notes from the weekend

by Anton Zuiker on September 29, 2024

I almost made it through the month of September with a blog post each night, but last night I was too tired to formulate a coherent sentence, let along a few paragraphs. It had been an active day in a busy weekend: Friday night with Ed Sheeran, Saturday at the bluegrass festival, and then Sunday for soccer, hot sauce, and more live music.

On my way to the regular pick-up soccer game (we’re playing in Chapel Hill for a few months while our usual Durham pitch, which had deteriorated to unsafe conditions, finally gets renovated), I listened to the Planet Money segment The billion dollar war behind U.S. rum about the ‘rum wars’ in the USVI and Puerto Rico. Given my regular visit to the Cruzan Rum distillery whenever we visit St. Croix, I was interested in this.

Back home, I made another batch of homemade hot sauce in the garage. The final step is to fill the canning jars. I did this in the kitchen, but Erin and I agreed I should find a way do the canning step in the garage as well since even a few minutes fills the house with the vinegary fumes.

After the kitchen was cleaned and I’d watched the Tottenham-ManU match, Erin dropped me in town for the Carrboro Music Festival. For a few hours I walked from stage to stage, enjoying the bands and short conversations with few co-workers I came upon. We had beautiful weather.

Later, when I sat down to check the news, even more photos and videos documented the devastation in Asheville and Boone and the NC mountains. I felt happy from the weekend’s activities but sobered by the destruction. One of my best NC memories (and possibly the best photo I’ve ever taken) is the week Erin and the girls and I spent in West Jefferson, NC, where we attended the Ola Belle Reed Festival.

Now Ashe County is reeling from the rains of Helene. Soon as it is safe to visit western NC again, I hope I can get there to help in one way or another.

A day for bluegrass music

by Anton Zuiker on September 29, 2024

Raleigh had perfect weather for the final day of the IBMA Bluegrass Live! Festival, even as many commented on the devastation in Western North Carolina (floods and mudslides from Helene).

I got downtown around 2:30 and headed straight for the Come Hear NC Stage on hear Unspoken Tradition. Then, into the convention center to listen to the youngsters. Later, I met my uncle John at Red Hat Amphitheater for the evening performances: Danny Paisley (IBMA male vocalist of the year), Amythyst Kiah (amazing voice, reminded me of seeing a young Tracy Chapman), Sierra Hull (fabulous!), and Raleigh’s own Chatham County Line to end the night (Steep Canyon Rangers was supposed to be the top billing but the storm kept them from traveling).

This annual bluegrass festival in Raleigh for the past dozen years has been much fun to attend. The musicians are so damn talented!

Next year, this festival will be in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Duke at 100

by Anton Zuiker on September 28, 2024

The remnants of Hurricane Helene came through this morning, dumping a couple of inches of rain on Chapel Hill. As Erin I and I left our dental appointments together, our phones buzzed with tornado warnings. We got home safely, and the skies cleared by noon. Western North Carolina, and Florida and Georgia, got hit much worse.

The clear Piedmont skies meant that Duke University could go ahead with its centennial Founder’s Day Celebration and Concert starring pop star Ed Sheeran. I barely got tickets so Erin and I were able to go though we were confined to the end zone area without a view of the stage. Still, we got to watch Sheeran on the big screen and hear the one-man show just fine. It was fun and even the short rain squall didn’t matter. As I noted over at Wan Smol Blog, I loved Sheeran’s duet with Andrea Bocelli. Sheeran did sing Perfect tonight.

Walking back to our car across Duke’s West Campus, I told Erin I am proud to have worked for this excellent institution for 17 years. I’m glad to have contributed to the Duke story in my own small way (and as a Tar Heel, to boot).

Reading Shogun

by Anton Zuiker on September 26, 2024

I’m watching the series Shogun, a couple of episodes each night after the day’s work and cooking and cleaning and other activities.

There was an earlier television miniseries based on James Clavell’s novel of 17th century Japan. For the longest time I’ve remembered that I watched that during my first few nights on St. Croix—we had moved from Idaho to Frederiksted in late March 1983 (just before my 13th birthday) and I was allowed to join a neighbor to watch on a small black-and-white t.v. in the shared open-air courtyard. Over the next few years I read that novel and Clavell’s others (King Rat, Tai Pan, Whirlwind). I still have Clavell’s version of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War.

But looking in Wikipedia to confirm this memory, I now understand that the miniseries playing in America that week in 1983 was actually The Thorn Birds. I’d eventually read that novel, too.

I was a voracious reader as a teen. We didn’t have a t.v. for much of my youth in Idaho, on St. Croix, and Illinois. Now I have subscriptions to multiple streaming services, though this year I have given myself time to enjoy reading once again (here and here).

A list of profiles I've written

by Anton Zuiker on September 25, 2024

I was looking for a link to a feature story I wrote about a sea turtle researcher but I didn’t find it in this blog, so I want to list some of the articles I’ve contributed to Duke publications to make it easier to find the links in the future.

The “vivid vision” for my next five years, which I mentioned in my recent post, includes this goal:

Each year, I write a profile of an interesting and accomplished individual. This helps me more fully see the diversity of humankind.

I’m on the search for my next subject and open to suggestions.

Read | posts, or go to the ARCHIVES.