No Telling Who You Might Run In The Bull City and What Fun You Might Have

Today was a great day for traveling and learning about the Mass transit systems of the Triangle....Something I do on a regular basis, but with the exception of the Chapel Hill system which I ride on Thursday, you have to pay a fare no matter how small it might be........But today, the systems of Raleigh and Durham and TTA had their try transit for free event, so I was able to get on a DATA Bus and a TTA For free...If you want to do what our mass transit system is like, you still have the rest of the day to try it for free and see what you think......
Earlier today, I was in Blue Coffee grabbing some lunch and while there I ran into some friends who run North Carolina's first latina owned Video communications company, as well as Connie Campanero of the Carolina Theatre who introduced me to one of her latest hires, and Rev. William Barber, the head of the state NAACP who referred me to one of his friends who has a young gospel artist in his family and who told me he would be in touch with a family soon for a project he has in mind........By the way, Connie loves calling me 15-501 cause she says I'm everywhere in the area and seem to know everyone, or if not everyone, quite a few people.........Now hopefully some of these friends and associates can help Lee Entertainment go to the next level...Speaking of Blue Coffee, this is the same restaurant where I saw President Obama coming out of and got a chance to wave at him while he was on the campaign trail, and had some friends, including the owner of Blue Coffee, who got a chance to talk to him and yesterday members of Alice Cooper's group were in there...I'm not that big of a fan of heavy metal, but hey everyone is entitled to their music preferences....
For those of you wanting something to do this weekend, you have plenty of options.....On Friday and Saturday, you can go to the Carolina Theatre and celebrate one of this area's true treasures, Chuck Davis and the African American Dance Ensemble as they celebate the home season.........and on Saturday, way too much to do..........On the Street near Hayti Heritage Center will be Phoenix Festival celebrating the rich history of that neighborhood, and at American Tobacco, Family Fest sponsored by Fox 50 will be held, and at Brightleaf area, there is another festival, and of course at the Old Ballpark is the Beer Festival with its usual two sessions, an afternoon session and a nighttime session.....Or if you want to get away from Durham, a festival I have enjoyed is coming back to Raleigh this weekend, the International Festival, celebrates the rich cultures that are often found throughout the Carolinas as people from various countries and regions have settled in this area....There is great entertainment representing some of these countries at the festival, and there is often some awesome food from these places as well, and the art they provide is quite inspiring.....
And if you have a cat or a dog and are thinking it is driving you crazy, maybe it doesn't want to eat what you give it or maybe it thinks the whole house is its latrine, or maybe it's chewing on your favorite book or blanket, and you think you need some divine intervention...Or maybe it's the opposite and your pet has provided you with all kinds of support and comfort and you want to thank them and praise them to God. Or maybe you have an usual pet like a Llama or a Goose and it's got away a couple of times, and you need that divine intervention again or maybe you have learned valuable life from a Turtle and you want to thank God...Well this weekend is your chance because several local churches in Durham are having a Blessing for the Animals this weekend......
By the way, the Bull City Classic between NCCU and Duke wasn't a bad game and though they lost handily, NCCU did show signs of life...After falling down by 21, railing to within a touchdown off of a interception before not doing much at all offensively in the second half.......This team definitely gave a valiant effort in a losing cause and miserable weather and I agree with the Duke coach, it looked like they may have had more student support than Duke did and quite a large following of community support in my opinion.......and by the way, the battle of the bands was no contest either...NCCU won hands down.....SMILE........As I was getting my hair cut, I looked at the paper yesterday and realized that NCCU is not backing down from challenges as they go division 1...their opening game in basketball is defending champion UNC and they have several other top rated opponents on their schedule...yes, they will take their lumps but eventually they will make noise in division 1 in my opinion.
and speaking of NCCU, I stopped by their theatre department and realized that this weekend they are opening their 60th season with a production of "Slapping God In The Face" which will run from this weekend and next....Looks like a lively production and yours truly will check out the musical and let you know what I think...Other plays on the schedule include the New Work series in November which features a adaptation about James Shepard's life, for those of you that don't, that's the founder of NCCU...Other plays to be presented this academic year include Dance on Widow's Row by Samm-Art Williams and the school's rendition of the now classic "Little Shop of Horrors."
Also NCCU got a piece of the U2 action which shouldn't surprise me since Bono is definitely an activist and involved in Human and Civil rights..Yes, there was a conference on U2 at NCCU and I understood the roads of Raleigh were packed with people going to see this well recognized band play...One of these days I will get to one of their concerts...and speaking of concerts, I have learned that Ohio Players, Bar-Kays and Con-Funk-sion will be at DBAP at end of month and in November Maysa, Will Downing and Najee will be in town.......and don't forget Hallejuah Train is coming on the weekend of Oct. 9 to Hayti.
By the way, I also understand there was a walk for Breast Cancer awareness at North Hills Mall in Raleigh over the weekend, and who knows I might be bold and participate in the Bike event at the end of the month for Habitat for Humanity.....
By the way, I also talked to Brett about the Open Mic I missed this Wednesday and he said Pam Saulsby came by and sang a couple of numbers, including a Jill Scott number, and that he had a couple of other new talents appear as well........I keep telling folks Durham and the surrounding region have such great talent....
Oh well, about to bounce.. but You know your minister will be keeping you informed of the various things happening in town......