north carolina

Chris Knight's avatar

Eight days into spring, and it snowed this morning here in north-central North Carolina. Not only that but it was coming down at a great clip and for awhile was sticking to the ground!

Here are some photos that I took around 8:45 a.m. today…

I was flying back from a wedding in Florida several years ago, in early April. It was snowing in Greensboro then as we touched down. And I’ve also seen it snow on the Fourth of July in nearby Caswell County. But this is the most snow that I’ve seen fall this late.

Pretty, ain’t it? šŸ™‚

EDIT 10:45 a.m. EST: It’s now a quarter-til 11 a.m. and the snow is still falling! Not as hard as it was earlier but, it still provides a nice ambiance....

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For $20,000 you could be the proud owner of this authentic moonshine still designed, built and no doubt USED by Popcorn Sutton for the brewing of his famous likker!

Here’s the link to the item’s eBay page. And here’s the official description…

Up for sale is a genuine Copper Moonshine Still that was used by the legendary Popcorn Sutton of the appalachians. This item is being sold for historical purposes only, not for actual use. This still is 45-50 years old and has a 110 gallon pot!

Any additional questions please call about this rare and highly collectible item.

Rare and collectible, indeed!! I would love to own this… or anything that was the handiwork of Marvin “Popcorn” Sutton: a character who was truly an American original.

Tip o’ the hat to Eric Smith for an awesome find!!...

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I don’t know if this warrants a 9-1-1 call or what, but to this blog’s readers here in Rockingham County, North Carolina:

Be advised that a large black bear was spotted by Yours Truly on Vernon Road not far from Rockingham Community College earlier this evening.

Yeah, I’m certain it was a bear. At first I wondered if it might be a large black dog instead. Until I saw its face and muzzle. It’s a bear all right.

It was acting a bit lethargic. Walking on all fours with its head going from side to side. Maybe he (or she) had just woken up from hibernation and was looking for a mid-winter snack?

Anyway, now y’all know. There’s a bear somewhere around Vernon Road.

Ummm… don’t tease it?...

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It’s seen better days (in fact it had to be reconstructed from its separate pieces for this photo) but this gold-gilded sword hilt recently recovered from the site of the Queen Anne’s Revenge off the coast of North Carolina is being thought of as possibly belonging to Captain Edward Morgan Teach… more infamously known as Blackbeard the Pirate.

If so, it’s probably not the weapon that Blackbeard would have primarily used in combat (likely not even in his final duel with Captain Maynard). Pirates and the like preferred blades with more protection for the handle. However the conspicuous hole in the hilt suggests a chain guard. Whatever the case might be however, it is a rich and handsome weapon: just the sort that one could imagine being carried by Blackbeard.

National Geographic’s website has more photos of this sword handle. I’m wondering if it’ll go on display in ...

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I would pay good money to see that headline depicted as an illustration in the National Police Gazette.

It happened folks… and not just anywhere but right here in Reidsville, North Carolina (though more than a few friends have noted that this sort of thing is already inherent to this town’s nature).

Here’s the story from Fox 8 WGHP…

A 55-year-old North Carolina woman was taken to the hospital after her husband loaded a gun with toilet paper and shot her in the back early Tuesday morning, according to the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office.

Lonnie Irvin Pinnix, 38, of 951 Garrison Rd., was charged with assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly shooting his wife after she returned to their home shortly after midnight.

According to the sheriff’s office, Darlene Pinnix came home and found her husband agitated. She lay down on the bed, but Lonnie Pinnix held

...
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A customer at the Goodwill Store on Peters Creek Parkway in Winston-Salem found a grenade on one of the store’s shelves and tried to purchase it. The store was evacuated and bomb squad personnel came to take it away (no word yet on whether it was live ordnance).

This is the second time this week that grenades have been found at Goodwill Stores around here. On Monday a training grenade was found amid some donated clothing at the store in Mayodan.

So… what’s the trend here? Some idiot kids “goofing off”?

Or perhaps we should heed the words of one Auric Goldfinger: “Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it’s enemy action.”

(Seriously though: if this is “terrism” this has pathetic written all over it. I mean, trying to bring chaos down in a Goodwill store?!)...

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Ya see, it’s crap like this that makes me despise the Seventeenth Amendment and everything about it.

The United States Senate is supposed to represent the states. Up ’til 1913, it was the individual state legislatures that elected their respective senators. Then the Seventeenth Amendment was passed and made the Senate a popularly-elected office.

And that was the beginning of the real modern era of dirty politics and corruption, in my book.

We had our primary elections here in North Carolina today. Incumbent U.S. Senator Richard Burr won the Republican nomination. He’ll be going against whoever comes out of the runoff set for June 22nd against Elaine Marshall and Cal Cunningham from the Democrat party.

Elaine Marshall ain’t happy. And she wants Cal Cunningham to drop out already… for the good of the Democrats. From WRAL’s website…

“I think not having a runoff is in the Democratic Party’s

...
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What. The. #&@$ ?!?!?

Just saw on the website for the Raleigh News & Observer that Governor Bev Perdue is talking with members of the General Assembly about levying a tax on all NASCAR-related sales within the state of North Carolina.

I say again: What. The. #&@$ ?!?!?

According to the article, if enacted into law the tickets for NASCAR stock car races will have a 10% tax imposed upon them. And it’s not just that, friends and neighbors: the NASCAR merchandise is going to be hit extra-hard too! Want a scale-model replica of “King” Richard Petty’s famous Number 43 car, or a calendar highlighting Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s career? Well in addition to the regular sales tax it’s gonna have 5% extra added to the final price as well.

I can guess why Governor Perdue might be trying to do this. North Carolina is already the most-taxed state in ...

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Dear management and staff of WFMY:

I am a life-long viewer of WFMY. Yours is the station that I have most associated with well-produced television. Growing up our own television was always tuned to one of two channels: the local PBS affiliate for Sesame Street and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, and Channel 2. Until the time I was 8 years old I didn’t even know that there were other stations that did news, weather and sports. I will always fondly remember Lee Kindard’s hosting of The Good Morning Show, Sandra Hughes is one of the all-time most classiest ladies in the history of anything (Lord willing I will finally get a chance to meet her someday) and whenever the weather has taken a turn for the worst or (even better) threatened snow that would cancel the schools, WFMY was there. I still remember people like Arlo Lassen (whatever happened ...

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Crystal Mangum is now sitting in the Durham County Jail under a $1 million bond. She has been charged with attempted murder after assaulting her boyfriend, setting his clothes on fire in a bathtub and then trying to stab him.

Slash here for the story.

About a week or so ago a friend brought up the Duke lacrosse case during a conversation, talking about how those players were innocent but even so the notoriety of the case would always hang over them. And he didn’t shy away from expressing his disgust about how Crystal Mangum got away unpunished. “Don’t worry,” I told him. “I saw it happen with O.J. Simpson and too many others. Maybe in ways we’ll never even see, she’ll get hers eventually.”

Nothing else needs to be said…...

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