Six to receive top N.C. award

Six North Carolinians will be honored with the highest civilian award the state bestows in a ceremony at the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh Thursday, says the AP.

Among those receiving the North Carolina Award are Winston-Salem attorney Mike Leonard, High Point poet and author Carole Boston Weatherford, Greenville artist and teacher Robert Ebendorf, and Asheville painter and sculptor Donald Sultan.

Also being recognized are Margaret S. Newman of Winston-Salem, chairman of the board of directors of the N.C. Center for Nonprofits, and F. Ivy Carroll, a scientist in the field of medicinal chemistry.

The North Carolina Awards were created by the General Assembly in 1961 and have been presented annually since 1964. It recognizes contributions to the state and nation in fine arts, literature, public service and science.

From Raleigh to Charlotte in an hour

I had what I called the "absolute" pleasure two Octobers ago to take the Amtrak from Raleigh to Charlotte for a meeting. It was a trip that "did nothing but reinforce my belief that trains should be highly invested in as a critical mass transit option --whether for intra- or intercity travel." The trip took roughly the same amount of time as it would have if I had driven, except I was able to read a book, sleep or just enjoy the scenery.

Well, thanks to federal funding, that Raleigh-to-Charlotte trip could take about an hour. Nice.

"Uncle Sam is betting $520 million you’ll think twice about driving to Charlotte or Raleigh if a train can get you there in an hour," says the News & Record.

"That’s how much stimulus money the federal government gave North Carolina recently for the Raleigh-to-Charlotte run, with Triad stops in Greensboro, Burlington and High Point.

The award covers enough work to make high-speed rail a reality in the Central Piedmont in four or five years, said Gene Conti, state secretary of transportation.

“On the Raleigh-to-Charlotte connection, we’re going to be in good shape to get our average speed up to 90 mph, where we’re averaging just over 50 mph now,” Conti said. “Going from that to 90 mph is huge.”

The aim of high-speed rail at the regional level is curbing highway congestion and pollution, primarily by getting commuters off the roads.

“High-speed rail will provide business and leisure travelers with a competitive option to car or air travel for distances of 100 to 500 miles,” said Joan Bagherpour of North Carolina’s rail program. ...

The route belongs to the national Southeast High Speed Rail corridor, which eventually could extend from Washington through Atlanta. The larger route won a total of $620 million in stimulus money for work in both Virginia and the Tar Heel State.

North Carolina’s piece of the larger award was $545 million, but $25 million is earmarked for the route from Raleigh to Richmond. That route is not as close to completion as Charlotte-to-Raleigh.

“For the Raleigh-to-Charlotte (leg), we got pretty much everything we asked for,” Conti said of the $520 million.

So, before long, you can sit back and enjoy the ride. But don't get too comfortable -- you'll be at your destination before you know it.

Johnson, Wilson are NFL All-Pro selections

"Chris Johnson didn't get any votes for MVP. He didn't miss any for The Associated Press 2009 NFL All-Pro team," says the AP.

The 2,000-yard rusher from the Tennessee Titans (who played at East Carolina) was the only unanimous choice for the squad, which was announced Thursday. He's joined in the backfield by Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, who won an unprecedented fourth Most Valuable Player Award last week, when only quarterbacks received votes.

"That'd be a good thing," said Johnson, who won the Offensive Player of the Year award Wednesday. "Because I feel like if you put a season out there, out of those dudes who got votes or the dudes who won, I wouldn't feel they had a better season than I had, and broke as many records in one season that I had."

Also named to the All-Pro team was former N.C. State player (and High Point native) and current Arizona Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson.

This is the first time that Wilson has been named to the NFL All-Pro team, and the first NC State player to be selected since Torry Holt in 2003. Wilson is the only member of the Cardinals represented on the first team [said GoPack.com].

During the 2009 season Wilson started all 16 games, while recording 74 tackles and a career-high five interceptions and 13 pass deflections. Wilson has been with the Cardinals for nine years since being drafted in the third round in 2001.

While having solid contributions as a rookie, Wilson took over the starting strong safety spot in his second year and has never relinquished it. Since coming into the league Wilson has recorded 686 tackles, 20.5 sacks and 23 interceptions.

Some N.C. film news

According to the Citizen-Times, Asheville resident and film star Andie MacDowell will be in Flat Rock on Jan. 16 to screen the documentary “The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo.”

The movie will be shown at the Flat Rock Cinema, followed by a reception with McDowell. Tickets are $7, with all sales and any donations going to Mainstay, Henderson County’s domestic violence prevention agency.

The Emmy-nominated film shows atrocities against the Congolese women and girls by militant soldiers in the Congo of Africa and documents the mass rapes of women and girls as a tool of intimidation in an effort to profit from the mining of minerals such as tin, tantalum and tungsten.

In addition, the News & Record in Greensboro reports that TV icon Ed Asner is in High Point making a feature film based on the script by High Point U. professor Ed Simpson.

Asner plays the lead character in “Elephant Sighs.”

On Wednesday, Asner and other cast and crew filmed in a warehouse-turned-movie set in town. It has become a community center in a fictional Pennsylvania town, where Simpson set his comedy/drama. The “bromance” tells a story of loss, loneliness and the healing power of friendship.

Asner said the film attracted him because “it was a boy flick. I was busy in it. I had some interesting things to say.”

“It’s a sweet film,” Asner said between takes. “It’s a film about people who need each other and fulfill each other. If we do the right job on it, people will feel good when they see it.”

Familiar actors play the four other main roles.

David Wells, a Guilford College and UNCG alumnus, has appeared in films and a list of TV shows, including “CSI” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

John Cariani has appeared in “Numb3rs” and “Law & Order”; Jack Kehler, in films “The Big Lebowski” and “Men in Black II”; and Mark Fite on television in the sitcoms “Friends” and “Seinfeld.”

“They are so talented and great guys to work with,” Simpson said.

Filming is expected to wrap up fin High Point and Thomasville on Jan. 23. The movie should be out in the spring.

Simpson, Carr and Wells attended Guilford College together in the 1970s.

'Eastbound and Down' is very much an N.C. creation

Was watching HBO in a hotel room while away at a conference a couple of weeks ago, and managed to see a sneak preview of the new Will Ferrell-produced series, "Eastbound and Down," which follows a washed-up Major Leaguer ("Kenny Powers," played by Danny McBride) as he adjusts to "normal" life back home in North Carolina.

The creators of this show were educated at the N.C. School of the Arts, and they commented that it just made sense to film it in North Carolina. ("Eastbound" is filmed around Wilmington.)

The show, I believe, starts next week. As with most HBO series, parental advisory is suggested.

"If nothing else, 'Eastbound,' set to bow Feb. 15, should have a ring of authenticity," says Variety. "McBride, who hails from small-town Virginia, co-created the series with two pals from film school in North Carolina: Jody Hill and Ben Best, who are both sons of small-town North Carolina (though Best bragged that his home town of High Point was 'the furniture capital of the world' and hosted a mammoth trade show every year.) And 'Eastbound' was shot in North Carolina using 'real Southern kids' as extras, 'not kids from Burbank,' McBride noted. McBride, Hill and Powers said they aim to update urbanites' view of life in the South beyond the 'Hee-Haw' stereotype. ..."

"We wanted to find new things to make fun of," McBride told the publication. "We wanted to get a little bit deeper into the South that we know," Best added.

NFL's Wilson enjoying the 'High Point' of his career

The Winston-Salem Journal's John Delong has a nice piece on Arizona Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson, a former NCSU star.

"When Adrian Wilson isn't making big hits as the Arizona Cardinals' strong safety, he can often be found at a designer shoe store that he owns in Scottsdale.

"The name of the store?

"High Point.

"It's partly a tribute to his home town, where he starred at High Point Andrews before going on to N.C. State and ultimately to the Cardinals as a third-round pick in 2001.

" 'Obviously it is a tribute to my home town, but I also said once I got my own business it would be the high point of my career, and the high point of my life. That's how it is and that's pretty much how I want to keep it.' ..."

Wilson is the Cardinals' longest-tenured player on the team. (He's in his eighth season in the NFL, all with 'Zona.) He has been in on 21 tackles this season, despite missing one game and most of another with a hamstring injury, Delong notes. "He got the 17th interception of his career in the Cardinals' season-opening win against San Francisco, and continues to close in on a personal milestone. With three more interceptions and four more sacks, he will become the ninth player in NFL history to record 20 career sacks and 20 interceptions.

"He is also in the NFL record books for having the most sacks by a defensive back in one season, with eight in 2006. He had two 99-yard returns for touchdowns that season, also an NFL record, with a 99-yard interception return against Atlanta and a 99-yard fumble return against Minnesota."

The Battle of the Furniture Markets

No one will ever confuse High Point, N.C., with Las Vegas, but that doesn't meant that there aren't some folks who prefer the former to the latter. Especially when it comes to the battling world furniture markets.

"When the World Market Center opened in Las Vegas three years ago, the furniture industry gasped: How could little ol' High Point compete with the bright lights of the Strip?" asks the Associated Press.

"But on Monday, when the High Point Market [opened] for its first show of the year, roughly 85,000 industry insiders will once again descend on the heart of North Carolina's furniture industry for the twice-annual home decor trade show that sets the table for what consumers will see in stores next season.

" 'Is Vegas good to have? Sure it is,' said Jerry Epperson, a furniture industry analyst with Richmond, Va.-based investment firm Mann, Armistead and Epperson. 'But I, like most people, don't go to a market to see Blue Man Group or Cirque Du Soleil, or heaven help us, a has-been singer.'

"Yet the owners of the market space in Las Vegas remain undeterred. They held their sixth furniture market in January and will have roughly 5 million square feet of showroom space by July. The group recently unveiled additional expansion plans — with the stated goal of replacing High Point as the home of the world's biggest furniture trade show by 2013. ...

" 'We've got to go where the business is,' said Alex Boyer, a spokesman for Furniture Classics Limited in Norfolk, Va. 'High Point still is, and for the very near future, will be the primary venue for us. But we had to look to Vegas. ... Some of our competitors are there.' ...

"The two cities couldn't be more different. Las Vegas is a convention haven: packed with tens of thousands of hotel rooms, restaurants, high-end shopping, casino gaming, golf courses and sunny weather. Life is a little slower in High Point, a city of roughly 85,000 where hotel and restaurant reservations are scarce during market season.

"While the Las Vegas market touts the city's amenities over High Point's more modest setting, vendors said it will ultimately succeed — and threaten High Point's place as the leading home decor trade show — only on the merits of the business.

" 'Vegas for us is still an unknown,' said Glenn Prillaman, senior vice president of marketing and sales at Virginia-based Stanley Furniture Co., which has 60,000 square feet of showroom space in High Point. 'What's unknown is if our retail distribution base is out there in the kinds of numbers that would drive us to be there.'