The Rat is (Coming) Back

That's right Tar Heel fans, the legendary eatery in the alley is going to pull a phoenix and once again serve those famous burned, tough steaks and cheese bowls. All hail the great Ram's Head Rathskeller in Amber Alley! Daily Tar Heel article

Memorial Day Story

The UNC-Chapel Hill online library is fascinating, and I came across a great story that is fitting for Memorial Day. What do Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Dorsey, Kate Smith, Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice, Paul "Bear" Bryant, Otto Graham, and Ted Williams have in common? Naval Pre-Flight School in Chapel Hill 1942-1945. Click through to read the story.

NA/ZI: Black on Beck

Comedian and Carolina Alumnus Lewis Black really had a go at the fascination Glenn Beck has with all things Nazi. Or is it the other way around, hmmm?

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Back in Black - Glenn Beck's Nazi Tourette's
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

And here's his recent interview with UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp:

The Rat is Dead!

No, not another Stop Hillary post (that one's still brewing). This is the sad tale of the closing of Chapel Hill's greatest haunt, The Ramshead Rathskeller has closed due to new owners who started selling frozen pizza and stopped paying taxes. Among other reasons:

"(2) The quirky subterranean location MIGHT have actually complied with at least one current building safety and fire code but no one is willing to bet it did …. For the past 20 years. Between bumping your head on low overhangs, tripping on uneven floors and nightmarish thoughts of what might happen if anyone yelled “Fire” …. The Rat was one spark in a faulty greasetrap away from reducing all of Franklin Street to a smoldering ruin. ….. and Amber Alley …. Oddly, no one owns Amber Alley. If a patron slipped on gawd-knows-what he would find no entity public/private for which to sue. So sue everybody ….. Insurance companies frown on such circumstances."
(From BobLeeSays.com)


I hope they find a way to bring The Rat back in that spot, but it might be gone for good this time. Man, I'm gonna miss that place.

Another Day in Chapel Hill

Boy, what a beautiful day in Chapel Hill. Another good day of econ dev,made some more contacts and went to dinner at the Rat (again) with a couple of other classmates. It was as good as ever and I think they appreciated the 'inside look' at Chapel Hill. Somehow lost our third and I drove Russel from Norfolk by the Pile on the way home to the Hampton Inn (this is in Durham?....I had no idea the city limits met with Chapel Hill's way on this side of 40.....the Friday Center might be 1/2 mile from Durham).
Franklin Street is quite different from when I was in school, but it's also pretty much the same. I miss the Top of the Hill gas station, Papagayo's, Record Bar, but most of the staples are still there....The Rathskeller, the Shrunken Head (closes at 5:30), Ye Olde Waffle Shop...
Toward the end of my Gambler, I discovered that my coursemates are gonna vote for Bush. Oh, man! Well, that's OK, I wasn't about to push it, I have lots of friends voting for Bush. When we left dinner, we walked by the post office where there were people gathered with candles, holding a vigil with signs that read "1000 Dead", and "How Many More", etc. I joke to my new friends, "let's go over there and let me get y'all roughed up"....it was funny, you had to be there. The protesters were largely in their early 50's, not many college kids. Bizarre.
When we left, Jennifer turned right when we turned left, and I don't know if she's made it back to the Hampton Inn yet. I feel bad, but we did make an illegal U-turn and backtracked Franklin Street twice looking for her, so I hope she made it back OK.
The Econ Dev course is mighty interesting and it has given me a lot to think about. In some ways, the course makes me more worried about the future of our economy in North Carolina and America as a whole. But, I'm still an optimist and think we'll find a way with help from, and despite the government.
I'm missing my babies, Tracey & Anna Grace, will be home tomorrow!