Ethnic clusters flourish in cities, and the Triangle is no exception. Head down Western Blvd., right around the Raleigh/Cary border, and you’ll be in Little India.

More than just ‘curry here’ and a ‘sari there,’ Little India is a soup-to-nuts community of Indian businesses, including realtors, jewelers, CPA’s, doctors, dance teachers and D.J.’s (Like DJ Garam Masala, I kid you not.)

They even have their own magazine, Saathee. It’s free and includes jokes like this one: “Mafatlal gave his wife a pair of diamond earrings and a necklace on their wedding anniversary. Wife: “But you promised me a new car! Mafatlatl: “Yes, but I can’t find an imitation car!”

Enjoy some highlights of Little India below. As for musical accompaniment, I recommend the Indian grooves of Desi Radio Online.

Udupi Café
590 East Chatham Street Cary, NC 27511 (919) 465-0898

No meat. No alcohol. No website. And it’s one of my favorite places. (That says a lot.)

Natya Academy
www.natyaacademy.com

Drop in Bollywood dance classes are every Tuesday at 7 pm. See you there!

Roopkala Sarees
http://www.roopkala.com/

 ‘Six yards of fascination,” as the cloth is called, can be wrapped, hung, draped and pleated around the wearer’s body creating a look that is at once mysterious, sexy and dignified.

Added bonus: the store’s website links to an animated online temple to Shirdi Sai Baba, a turn-of-the-century Indian guru, mystic and yogi. He may have been the reincarnation of Shiva. And he did a pretty mean headstand.

Only the best gods have multiple appendages.

Biryani House
744 East Chatham Street Cary, NC 27511-6913 (919) 469-0006

Authentic Indo-Pak cuisine: Chicken, goat and lamb; tandoori, biryani and kabab. It’s been called one of the Triangle’s top 50 restaurants, and it’s prices don’t know it yet.

Galaxy Cinema

Technically, it’s not off Western but it’s still close enough and important enough to be in Little India. This epicenter of Indian culture and entertainment, combines the latest independent films with the best of Bollywood.

Palika Bazaar

740 East Chatham Street Cary, NC 27511-6902

The original Palika Bazaar in New Delhi contains about 400 shops and 15,000 people at any given time. This one is smaller, but no less fun for curious foreigners.

You can find much, much more about the area’s Indian community on these sites:

www.sathee.com
www.humsub.net
www.rtpindia.com
www.apnatriangle.com
www.tcanc.org

The week started out with a musical interpretation of a 19th century German play exploring some dramatic examples of the dangers of repression and potential for revolt when you pit puritanical dogma against natural base desires and a little puberty. Who knew Footloose wasn’t the first?  Frank Wedekind wrote it in 1871 and Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater remade it into a rock opera five years ago.   I got to see the Tony award wining production at the Durham Performing arts Center on Tuesday.

http://www.springawakening.com/

http://www.dpacnc.com/

Friday afternoon I got to participate in a Think Tank here at McKinney for Durham’s bid to host Google Fiber.

How often do you get to spend a portion of your working day brainstorming the limitless possibilities, and somewhat daunting philosophical questions, of a web connection that’s a hundred times faster than the one we currently work with?

http://www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi/

I ended my week in the RTP for TEDx TriangleNC.  This “independently organized TED event” hosted local thinkers, writers, performers who posed questions and big ideas from the simple to the profound for a day of thought, sharing and entertainment on Living to Our Highest Potential.

http://www.tedxtrianglenc.com/

http://www.ted.com/pages/view?id=343   

My point?  Durham kicks ass.

It is weeks like this last one that remind me why I have fallen completely in love with Durham. As I’ve come to embrace it as home my eyes have opened up with a lot of enthusiasm to the great variety of thought provoking opportunities our unique collection of universities, businesses and people has to offer here in Durham.  I can’t wait to see what this next week brings.

Pouring drinks. Serving up insights. McKinney President Jeff Jones and CCO Jonathan Cude are mighty talented at doing both. They proved it on January 12, when they worked the bar at Revolution to raise money for the Urban Ministries of Durham. To get their take on bartending, advertising and that blurry area in-between, I asked them a few questions.

Photo by Julia Parris

Which job did you find more difficult? 
 
JC: Bartending is a lot like advertising. They both demand focus, attention and a superior knowledge of alcohol.
 
JJ: But it was way harder to get the right amount of olive juice in a dirty martini than anything I do here every day!
 
How did your respective roles at McKinney helped you bartend?

JJ: Multitasking, problem solving and meeting deadlines – people were thirsty, now!

JC: If I didn’t know how to make a drink someone ordered, I creatively directed one.

What can advertisers learn from bartenders?

JJ: Listen more! People love to talk about themselves and share all kinds of stories.
 
Do Mad Men and women tip well? (We obviously drink well.)

JC: Yes, especially if it’s for a good cause.

The Red Square Recipe. Give it up. Come on now.

JJ: A slow 3-count pour of vodka, ruby red just right, a splash of sprite, a wedge of lime and lots of smiles.
 
Favorite Cheers quote? Mine’s from Norm of course, “It’s a dog-eat-dog world. And I’m wearing Milkbone underwear.”

JJ: Diane: Hate is not the opposite of love. Indifference is.

JC: Throughout high school Sam Malone was my guiding role model. Someday I’ll find another one.

The Last Call:

The duo raised $531.40 for the Urban Ministries. That means between 6 and 8 pm, over $2,500 in drinks were served to a vibrant crowd of socially conscious tipplers.

I had the honor and pleasure of spending most of yesterday at the North Carolina Central University School of Business. 

Twice a year they host the Management Professionals Forum and I was the 2nd of 6 business leaders sharing why I think i have the best possible profession.

I have to say, I was expecting this to be a "speech" and it turned out to be an incredibly well organized, student-led, forum to prepare the attendees for what is ahead.  Everyone came in business attire.  The entire auditorium stood to welcome me to the stage.  I had lunch with approximately 12 students where we discussed the industry, trends and tips for landing their first jobs. 

Having the chance to spend time in the classroom is one of the most rewarding and fulfiling aspects of life in the Triangle for me.  This opportunity at NCCU was won of the most special experiences I can remember in a long, long time.

Thanks to the University for having me.  And a special thanks to the student organizers who made me feel incredibly welcome all day!

The best coffee mugs are rarely found sets. (Unless of course we’re talking about wayward mugs that have escaped from their matching siblings.) Nope. The crème de la crème of coffee mugs, at least in my opinion, are the one-of-a-kind gems that I can choose, like an outfit, to match my mood.

My “mugshots”

Some mornings definitely require Leadership Development, Presidential or otherwise. On other days I feel like an MGM starlet ready to roar. Occasionally I'm sure the Centers for Disease Control will put me under quarantine, but mostly I just need a pair of wings.

This holiday season I have a new favorite mug. It’s not in my cabinet, but at the Urban Ministries of Durham’s Community Café, which serves 600 meals a day to the homeless and the hungry. They don’t have nearly enough mugs and chairs, and the ones they do have are pretty worn.

So on December 4th, McKinney’s Seats of Honor program started matching employee donations of $25.  Each gift made sure a guest at the Urban Ministries had a mug to sip a warm beverage from and a seat to rest on. By the 18th, we raised enough money to give UMD 98 new mugs and chairs (or $4,900 if you do the math).

Even if these mugs are part of matching sets, if they don’t have any clever sayings or pictures of cute kitties, for a small stretch of heaven, they will be the favorite mugs of many whose value will increase each day.

Art school, it’s not just for waiters anymore. If you live in the Triangle, it might actually get you a job.

A new study released by the NC Departments of Cultural Resources and Commerce found that the arts, humanities and design fields employ just as many people here as banks do.  Here’s the math on NC’s creative economy:

Approximately 300,000 jobs
$10 billion in revenue
5 percent of the state’s total wages and benefits

To get a little slice of this pie, and a dollop of whipped cream, you’ll need a resume. You could go with a simple Word Doc and Times New Roman font or get a little "creative."

You can almost hear the gobbling from our balcony. After all, the number one source of Thanksgiving’s finest is only an hour or so away from Durham.

We’re talking about Butterball of course. And for all your bird-basting questions, their famous Turkey Talk-Line is there to help, 24 hours a day.

Below are a few “re-creations” of memorable calls.

*The following is only loosely based in fact and any similarity to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

CALLER:     My Chihuahua is stuck inside my turkey!
HOTLINE:   Ma’am?
CALLER:     She crawled in by accident. I’ve tried pulling and shaking…
HOTLINE:   Just cut the neck opening wider ma’am.

CALLER:     Is it okay to carve a turkey with a chainsaw?
HOTLINE:   Try the chainsaw’s little cousin, the “electric knife.”

CALLER:     Can I microwave a turkey?
HOTLINE:   We recommend baking it sir.
CALLER:     Don’t got an oven. How long to nuke it?
HOTLINE:   9-10 minutes per pound on medium.

CALLER:    I’ve heard you can cook a turkey in a truck engine. That true?
HOTLINE:  We don’t recommend it. If you do, wrap it in plenty of foil.
CALLER:    What about the motor oil and stuff?
HOTLINE:  That’s why you use the foil, sir.

CALLER:     How long to roast my turkey?
HOTLINE:   How much does it weight ma’am?
CALLER:     I don't know, it's still running around outside.

CALLER:     How do I make my turkey vegetarian?
HOTLINE:   Don’t eat it.
CALLER:     Do you sell vegetarian turkeys?
HOTLINE:   All turkeys are vegetarians.
CALLER:     Okay, cool.

CALLER:     Will turkey make my dog go to sleep?
HOTLINE:   Not to my knowledge.
CALLER:     What about my relatives, how much turkey does it take to really knock ‘em out?

CALLER:     I was roasting my bird and now my kitchen is on fire.
HOTLINE:   Hang up right now ma’am and call the fire department.

Well, at least we North Carolinians are not smoking as much as at least 10 other states, according to the United Health Foundation's latest rankings.  In 1990, nearly a third of North Carolinians smoked.  Now, 20% do.  That may still be too high, but as I type this from the American Tobacco Historic District, looking at the Liggett & Myers building and about upteen other former tobacco warehouses, it's safe to say we've come a long way.

Don't pay any attention to the 37th ranking in overall nutrition, however - we may give up our smokes, but never our slow-cooked pork barbecue and hush puppies from, say, Allen and Sons.  Not at least for another 20 years.

It's been a fantastic summer-fall season in Durham. The reason i'm going to speak of is the music scene. I am an avid listener of all types of music, and I'm always ready to see some live music, and i've been fortunate enough to see several bands of the past few months.

Including, but not limited to the following artists:

* Andrew Bird

* Blitzen Trapper

* Junior Boyz

* Matisyahu

* Lost in Trees

* Megafuan

* Ghost Cats

* Bowerbirds

* Heartless Bastards

* Wolfmother

* No Doubt

* Kings of Leon

* U2

* Love Language

* Little Dragon

The list can go on forever. We're lucky to have some pretty legit local band coverage, as well as several venues that host any number of popular artists. The best thing is the convenience and accessibility to everything. Be it in Carrboro, Chapel-Hill, Durham or Raleigh, there's really a tune for everyone. Check out the schedules at these venues:

www.catscradle.com

www.local506.com

www.lincolntheatre.com

www.the-pour-house.com

And there's always a great listing in the local independent paper - www.indyweek.com

Check it out. I've still got a full calendar!

So Durham was just named the 5th Best Place to Live by U.S. News and World Report. But the reasons they gave? I’ve heard them a million times before. “Expansive healthcare industry”, “prestigious Duke University,” “a thriving technology hub.” C’mon people, you can do better than that! But they didn’t, so I will.

First off, living here gets you a lot of bang for your buck. According to Forbes, we’re in the top ten for America’s Best Cheap Cities.

We’re the smartest. Yes way. The Daily Beast said so, giving the hyperbolic merger of Raleigh-Durham an IQ score of 170.

We have one of America’s least miserable airports. Another study by U.S. News and World Report gave RDU International a Misery Index Ranking of a mere 10. Take that O’ Hare (47) and San Fran International (45)!

Despite a history richly packed in Tobacco, Durham is actually the fifth most Smoke-Free Metro Area. Granted, you still see lots of old smokestacks and tobacco warehouses (beautiful old brick buildings should never go to waste), but look inside and you’ll find the Golden Belt arts community, our home at the American Tobacco Campus and shopping and dining at Brightleaf Square.

East Durham was named one of This Old House's "Best Old-House Neighborhoods" in both the US and Canada for it’s architecture and sense of community.

Finally, BusinessWeek named downtown Durham one of the nation’s 15 most up-and-coming neighborhoods. I respect this award in particular because it’s easy to build a cookie-cutter community without a past, ahem Cary, but it takes creativity, drive and love to take something old and crumbling and bring it life with coffee shops, wine bars, art galleries, and creative companies—like McKinney!

For pics and people, check out this lovely little video courtesty of Downtown Durham, Inc.