Hayley meets Santa

Jennifer and I took our 2 1/2-month-old daughter, Hayley, to meet Santa Claus (the real one) in Durham’s Southpoint Mall on Dec. 20. Yes, we were “those” parents who waited in line nearly two hours for this … but it was actually a very fun experience.
I’ll post the photo when I get it scanned. Until then, this is a photo of the photo I took with my phone (kinda blurry).

Bad trip to Tokyo

After a positive review from The Herald’s Jonathan Owens, I decided to try “Tokyo’s Express,” a new take-out (or dine-in) Japanese restaurant on Horner Boulevard (near Food Lion and Tractor Supply) in Sanford.
It was one of the oddest dining experiences of my life.
First … I walk in and blasting on the speakers is an Eminem song. Odd, being that I was in a Japanese restaurant … even weirder that is was an uncensored version, and lyrics I haven’t heard since my days in Compton were flowing through the ears of other (older) restaurant patrons.
And it wasn’t barely audible … it was uncomfortably loud.

Then I ordered. Hibachi chicken for Jennifer. Hibachi steak for me. Total (with a drink): $17.51.
Amount I noticed on my credit card bill: $71.51.
Yowza. Glad I looked.
It was an honest mistake … but one the MANAGER couldn’t fix. So he gave me my $54 in cash as change and didn’t offer any discount or anything to make me happier, since I was angry that I would have to run to the bank after this and deposit $54 back into my checking account.
As I waited for my food, listening to more loud crap, a man walked in with to exchange a to-go order that was wrong.
Then I brought the food home, and Jennifer’s chicken was fatty .. my steak was bland.
I’m not one to usually bash eating establishments, as I know they’re usually advertisers for our newspaper and it’s not my intention to help put anybody out of business.
But this was bad.
Worst $71 ever.

Today’s Links
* Iron Man 2 trailer out today
* Classic Mr. Show (Civil War Re-Enactment)

“Phantom of the Opera” at the DPAC

This was my first trip to the Durham Performing Arts Center and my first-ever “Phantom” experience (I’d seen the movie) … and, in short, I was blown away.
There’s only a week left of “Phantom” left in Durham, and if you have the time and the desire to trek an hour north to go … go.
I won’t go into too many details except to say the performances are brilliant (particularly Tim Martin Gleason as the Phantom) … but what really steals the show is the set. That’s right, the set is awe-inspiring … the scene changes are flawless and impressive, and it’s all done on such a grand scale, you forget you’re sitting in a theater.
As for the D-PAC, this was my first trip there since it opened, and already, my wife and I can’t wait to go back (we’re in for “Wicked” in the spring).

TODAY’S LINKS
• Trailer for the new “Alice in Wonderland” film released
• Saints fans shoot up a Redskins’ fan’s TV (white trash warning)
• New ‘Lost’ promo (with Willie singing “Amazing Grace”)
• This guy has too much time on his hands (still kinda cool)

Hayley at 2 months

More photos. More photos. More photos.

Hayley cooing

My wife Jennifer shot this video of our daughter, Hayley, at 2 months. She’s starting to ‘communicate’ with us through a series of smiles, babble and coo’s. This is by far my most favorite thing I’ve ever posted.

Temple Review: ‘A Christmas Carol’

In introducing “A Christmas Carol” to Thursday’s matinee audience at Temple Theatre, Artistic Director Peggy Taphorn said the show was the beginning of a Christmas tradition in Sanford.
This should please the ghost of Christmases future.
The Charles Dickens classic comes to Sanford in musical form and features a cast of 38 ranging in age from Tiny Tim to Ebenezer Scrooge. It just so happens that in this production, these two characters come away with the most memorable performances.
You can’t have a good “Christmas Carol” without a solid Scrooge, and Randy Rime brings a curmudgeoness to the role that makes him unlikeable. His speech is crackly, and in the few musical numbers he is involved in, his voice is less than remarkable. But he’s believable, especially his gradual transformation from miser to “born again” with each ghostly visit.
And Makani McKenzie is adorable as Tiny Tim (yes, a little girl as a little boy), and her solo is touching … bringing a tender moment to an otherwise joyous and upbeat production.
With a cast this big, it’s tough to point out all of the solid performances, but a few do rise above the rest. Temple veteran Chris Wright is near perfect as Scrooge’s nephew, Fred, and Michael Brocki is solid yet again as Bob Cratchit.
The ghosts are both frightening (Stephen Moore’s Jacob Marley and the giant prop that serves as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come) and funny (Jamey Helsman’s Ghost of Christmas Present and Thomas Dalton’s Ghost of Christmas Past) when they need to be. I suppose I have a positive bias toward Dalton, seeing that he’s a graduate of Stephen F. Austin State University, my college back in Texas.
And something should be said of the several children — both teens and pre-teens — involved in this production who keep up well with their adult counterparts.
Another star is the set (and costume design) as scene changes from Scrooge’s bedroom to a snow-covered street are performed flawlessly. Kudos to scenic artist Tom Barker and scenic designer Eileen Greenbaum-Mintz.
As you can tell, I’ve failed to give a description of the plot, as I feel there are very few who aren’t familiar with this timeless tale. What is interesting (and refreshing) is that this production chooses to keep the religious overtones that were prominent in Dickens’ story. In the hands of Disney and other movie studios, “A Christmas Carol” often leaves out any mention of “the reason for the season.”
But here, “Jesus” and “Christ” appear often in the songs and carols. I’m sure this won’t “offend” many who take in the show.
Sure, there are a few missteps … but they’re minor and not worth mentioning in this limited space. What’s important is that throughout December, you’ll walk out of Temple Theatre humming carols and feeling “Christmassy” after seeing this production. Hot chocolate stirred with a candy cane will sound like the perfect follow-up.
In other words, there will be very few “bah humbugs.” And isn’t that the point?

Welcome to Headline News

The news industry is a funny business. And I don’t mean “funny ha-ha.”
It’s been a weird week for me and the rest of the news staff at The Herald. Like everybody else, we are shocked and saddened by the death and allegations surrounding the death of Shaniya Davis, the Fayetteville girl whose body was discovered discarded just off Walker Road near the Carolina Trace community Monday. Because her body was found in Sanford … and because of the unexplained video surveillance of Davis and her alleged killer, Mario McNeill, in a Sanford hotel before the murder, our city has been thrust into the national spotlight.
And this certainly isn’t the kind of spotlight we want. Nor was I thrilled to receive a call from CNN’s Headline News asking me to “report” on the case for Nancy Grace’s show.
Yes, THAT Nancy Grace — the brash victims’ rights advocate who uses her one hour each night to speculate and condemn, rather than to report and analyze. A past Herald editor had appeared on her show back in 2006 after the disappearance of Michelle Bullard. His experience wasn’t a good one, and because of Grace’s reputation, I really had no desire to put myself through the ringer on national TV.
But I said “yes” anyway. And this week’s column is about that experience. I realize there are so many things to say about Shaniya’s tragic death, but it says a lot that in a week where I watched searchers scour the woods along N.C. 87 and learn that a body was found, the oddest experience I had was a phone interview with a TV host.
I received a call from Grace’s people on Tuesday, the day after the discovery. The Herald’s Gordon Anderson had already done a phone interview with Joy Behar’s show on Headline News the night before. We both found it odd that either of us had been asked to provide “expert analysis” on the case … especially considering the investigation was being handled in Cumberland County instead of Lee.
I told the producers I would talk, but only about my experience during Monday’s search. I said I could provide eye witness accounts of the wooded areas they searched in … the proximity to a major highway … the distance from the hotel … the weather conditions … the fact that a tropical storm a few days earlier made the search a little more difficult. I did not, however, want to talk about the charges against Shaniya’s mother and the man accused of killing the girl. All I knew about these items were what I read in wire reports … I was by no means an “expert.”
So hours before airtime (8 p.m.), I had my first “pre-interview” with one of the producers, who went over bullet-points of what would be discussed on the show. The interview turned more into a “how to talk to Nancy” class, as I was told to never say, “I don’t know,” or “We haven’t heard anything new,” or else Nancy would “eat me alive.” I reiterated that I knew very little about the suspects themselves.
Then 8 p.m. rolled around, and I sat in my office, phone to my ear, listening to the Nancy Grace Show … a show filled with clips of Shaniya’s father crying a praying, images of Shaniya and the suspect near the elevator and tons of photos of the little girl growing up. She began the discussion by “unleashing the lawyers,” who did little more than say somebody needed to burn in hell for the crime.
Great analysis.
A few other reporters were on after that … one of them saying that McNeill had a lot of knowledge of Lee County because the body was dumped along a farm road. Thirty minutes into the show, a caller asked Grace a question about McNeill, the suspect. And just as I asked them not to, Grace answered by directing the caller to “Billy Liggett with the Sanford Herald.”
I froze for about a half second before stating the obvious about McNeill – that little was known about why he was in Sanford — and I immediately turned my answer back to the crime scene, saying I disagreed with the earlier assertion that McNeill knew Lee County well. My reasoning — the body was dumped less than a mile from N.C. 87 and was less than 100 feet from the road. That all points to the decision to rid of the body being not very well thought out along whatever country road caught his eye between Sanford and Fayetteville.
My answer lasted two minutes. Grace never interrupted me … nor did she acknowledge my answer, going on immediately to a forensics expert to talk about the body.
And with that, my “expertise” was done.
I did stay on the phone for the entire show … listening to Grace display bad taste with a dead Farrah Fawcett joke about one of her producer’s bad Charlie’s Angels hairdo during one break, and hearing her reveal somewhat of a human side during another when she expressed her heart-felt condolences to Shaniya’s father off camera.
The show then ended, and a producer came on to tell me I “did great” and that “Nancy loved me.” To that, I rolled my eyes, thanked them and went on to finish up that day’s paper.
I won’t lie … there was a part of me that was very excited to be on “national TV.” I even called my mom beforehand. But when it was all said and done, I didn’t feel like I contributed anything of substance … nor did I feel like the show itself did anything relevant either.
If the experience taught me one thing, it’s that our job isn’t to tell readers how angry or emotional a story like this should make them feel.
It’s our job to just provide the facts and raise questions where they’re warranted. These “news” shows don’t run that way.
Then again, they’re entertainment. Once the Shaniya story becomes “old hat” to them, they’re gone … regardless of how emotionally attached they’ve become.
And we’ll be better off without the spotlight.

A little site updating …

This by no means I’m leaving Sanford any time soon, but on one of the many sleepless baby nights I’ve had recently, I updated my resume and created an online version of it for this site. Click “My Resume” at the top of this page to see the early product. I’ll be adding more of my past stories and page design to it as I can find them.

Then if you want to pay me more than I make now … well, THEN we can talk.

Meet our new reporter

Caitlin Mullen joins The Herald from Northern Illinois, a lover of The Cubs and Chicago-style hot dogs. She’ll be covering education and other fun things in Sanford, and we’re pleased to have her.
She’s started a blog and has already asked readers to suggest restaurants and local stores, which she says she’ll review for her blog regularly.
Visit her site at caitlinmullen.wordpress.com

Hayley turns a month old today …

Our daughter Hayley has officially been in this world a month now, and the pictures are coming non-stop (mostly from my iPhone). Here’s Round 2.