New exhibit honors the official state dawg

Wanna learn about the official dog of North Carolina? Let's go to the AP:

The North Carolina Museum of History is showing an exhibit dedicated to the Plott hound, the only dog breed known to have originated in the state and the state dog.The small exhibit is titled "Our State Dog: North Carolina's Plott Hound" and is on display through Sept. 30. The traveling exhibit comes to the museum from Western Carolina University.

The exhibit describes the Plott hound's specific roles in a bear hunt, boar hunt and raccoon hunt. It also highlights five significant breeders of Plott hounds.

The breed originated in Haywood County in the 1800s when the Plott family bred native German dogs to become a distinct breed of animals that would hunt game and protect livestock from predators.

Quick hits: State dog does well and State to build plug-in cars

State dog hits the big time
"With nary a wild boar in sight, the sturdy Plott hound pranced beneath the New York City lights this week, its first appearance in the Westminster Kennel Club dog show," writes the News & Observer.

"The state dog of North Carolina, the Plott hound has a long history here, as the breed originated in the mountains in the 1750s. Named after the brothers who bred them, the Plott was designed for hunting boar and bear.

"But the country's largest dog registry, the American Kennel Club, did not add the breed to its rolls until 1998, said AKC spokeswoman Lisa Peterson. It took until 2007 for the breed to meet the AKC's criteria to be fully recognized. As part of the process, the breed needed 300 registered dogs with a three-generation U.S. pedigree. ..."

NCSU to house plug-in hybrid car program
"North Carolina State University will soon be home to a technology program aimed at advancing the use of plug-in hybrid vehicles," according to NBC17.com.

"Gov. Mike Easley announced the creation of the Advanced Transportation Energy Center on Tuesday. University officials will partner with Duke Energy Corp. and Progress Energy Corp., and Easley said General Motors Corp. may also join the program.

"Easley said the program will focus on developing better batteries and lighter vehicles so that cars can run only on electricity. Duke and Progress will help develop a grid so that people can plug in their cars while away from home. ..."

'When I think of N.C., I think of ...'

With all due respect to my Sandlapper friends, I must concede one thing: As a North Carolinian, I almost never find myself feeling jealous of South Carolina -- save for the fact that Charleston is perhaps my favorite U.S. city and, I have to admit, I really do like Hootie & the Blowfish. (And, of course, our neighbors to the south are among the nicest anywhere. So there.)

Having said that, I do have to give credit where credit is due. And in this instance, I'm jealous of the fact that South Carolina has produced one of the most iconic symbols anywhere in the world. I'm talking, naturally, about the S.C. flag. And more importantly, I'm referring to the palmetto tree and crescent that adorns the flag.

Simply put, it's a very cool symbol. You see it everywhere, even here in the Old North State. I imagine it's for three reasons that it's so popular: 1) People really love South Carolina; 2) It's just a really neat, unique symbol; and 3) it's become a defacto symbol of the South (not unlike the Bonnie Blue). I may be wrong about that last one, but that's the feeling I get, at least.

So, I'm jealous. Jealous that South Carolina has such a cool symbol. It looks good on hats, shirts, belts, stickers, etc. Our grand state doesn't quite have anything like that.

But could it?

S.C.'s symbol has reached a status not unlike "I (HEART) NY" or the slogan, "What happens in Las Vegas, stays in Las Vegas." I'm not saying that N.C. can approach those. But it's worth a discussion.

Here are some potential options:
-The flag: North Carolina's flag is not as unique as S.C.'s or even Maryland's, but it's a ready-made symbol. One proposal would be to use the the star with the N on the left and the C on the right, as opposed to the whole flag. But stars as symbols are kinda overdone. (Go Cowboys!)

(By the way, did you know there was an official salute to the state flag? It's kinda new: "I salute the flag of North Carolina and pledge to the Old North State love, loyalty, and faith.")

-State symbols: Nothing really stands out here, save for the Cardinal (boring, in my opinion) or the Pine tree. But S.C. has the tree symbol monopoly.

Folks could use the Carolina Tartan more -- but that's available, I believe, to both Carolinas.

I think Ohio would be even more upset if we tauted the whole "First in Flight" that much more.

Any other state symbol ideas? The Venus Fly Trap? The Plott Hound? The Emerald? All cool things, but, again, I think they would be hard to translate to non-North Carolinians.

-One "dark horse" suggestion: The pig. While we may disagree on what kind of barbecue we prefer, we can all agree that N.C. BBQ is better than anywhere else in the world.

Do you have an idea for what could be the absolute best symbol for the state of North Carolina? The winning choice will receive some N.C.-related prize.

(Oh, and as a Wolfpacker, I refuse to accept a tar heel as a widely-used symbol for ALL of North Carolina.)

(S.C. flag courtesy of Wikipedia.)