NCBlogs

Here's a sneak peek at what rooms at the still-under-construction Hotel Indigo on Haywood Street will look like, courtesy of the Downtown Asheville Condo blog. Photo gallery here.

Sweet.

From the Carolina Runner blog:

But what goes down must come up.  When the course hits Riverside, it travels south a short distance before turning left on Lookout.  This is a long uphill pull — probably about 3/4 of a mile.  Although there are many little houses along this road, it feels remote.  During my run on a Saturday morning at about 8:30 I only saw one car, two human beings, one dog and one cat.

Part one of the deconstruction is here.

click images to enlargeB and his band rocked mightily. The oldest was duly impressed and looks forward to this week's lesson with even more enthusiasm, something I would not have believed possible.in the photo at right, B is onstage on the far right

From a bleak break-down of Asheville Citizen-Times' owner Gannett's finances:

Now, financial sources contend, it's too late. Because of the credit crisis, an unfortunate bunching of credit maturities and a debilitating number of so-called negative-basis trades featuring credit-default swaps -- all in addition to the industry's secular and cyclical downturns -- Gannett as we know it will be lucky to last through June 2011. "They painted themselves into a corner," the distressed-debt expert says of Gannett management. "They have to raise more than $400 million between now and the middle of 2011 in a market where, frankly, many of their bondholders would rather they default."

...

Next month, after Gannett releases second-quarter results, its ability to put off a covenant trip will be much more apparent. The release will be followed by an earnings call that opens with prepared statements from CFO Martore and, if he's back from a temporary medical leave announced June 15, CEO Dubow. The Q&A session that traditionally wraps up this call will likely include some of the most pointed questions ever directed at the company, and the executives fielding them can certainly be excused for wishig Neuharth was at their side. But the public face of Gannett hasn't participated in quarterly calls for more than a year -- the annual meeting is his thing -- and it's doubtful he would have much to add if he were there.

Yes, newspaper companies are in such trouble that even Gannett, arguably best of breed, faces challenges few imagined two years ago. Yet the most immediate challenge has little to do with the news business -- just as this story has little to do with the news business -- but features forces so opaque and arcane that Gannett's thinly staffed dailies will be hard-pressed to cover them.

 On the impending Gannett lay-offs.

Story from the Raleigh News & Observer:

Former trooper Monty Steven Poarch's path back to the state Highway Patrol continues to get tougher.

In a trial this month, a Buncombe County district judge found him guilty of a misdemeanor assault charge that involved a dispute over a parking space at an Asheville restaurant. The daughter of a Durham assistant district attorney was standing in the space, attempting to hold it for her boyfriend's car, when Poarch slowly drove into the space, forcing her out. The conviction would jeopardize Poarch's law enforcement certification, which could cost him his current job as a captain with the Caldwell County Sheriff's Department, and put an end to his battle to get back with the patrol, said his attorney, Sean Devereux of Asheville.

Poarch sued to return to his job after he was fired in 2003 for having sex with a woman in his cruiser and at a patrol station.

An administrative judge agreed with Poarch, finding that he was subjected to disparate treatment. Other troopers caught in similar or worse behavior remained part of the patrol. The decision made public numerous cases of trooper misconduct over the past decade and created a major embarrassment for the agency.

The patrol and the state Personnel Commission rejected the law judge's finding, and Poarch is now trying to win that case in state Superior Court.

But that effort might all be moot if Poarch loses his appeal on the misdemeanor conviction. He has appealed to Superior Court. Devereux said a trial has been scheduled for the week of July 20.

From UNC Asheville's web site:

What advice do you have for students who wish to start their own business?

Start several. Seriously. If I could go back and do it over again, I’d start the smallest, easiest business in the world—like a lemonade stand or something—and make that wildly successful. Then move on to a business that’s a little bit harder—a lemonade stand franchise—and make that wildly successful. Then start a software company and try to raise venture capital, acquire patents, that kind of thing. Setting attainable goals and outperforming is much better than setting unrealistic goals and failing.

 

Great Raleigh News & Observer column here about the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration. We always hear about the road and building construction projects of the WPA during the Great Depression, but did you know there was a federal stimulus program for writers, too?

There was, and the signature work in North Carolina was published 70 years ago. "North Carolina: A Guide to the Old North State" was created as part of a series of WPA travel guides.

From the N&O:

Edwin Bjorkman, a Swedish-born translator, writer and one-time literary critic for the Asheville Citizen-Times, directed the Federal Writers' Project in North Carolina from his home in Asheville, with offices around the state. The organization worked like a large newspaper, with field reports passing through a series of editors.

As many as 130 people worked for the Federal Writers' Project in the state at a time. They included writer Manly Wade Wellman, novelist Bernice Kelly Harris and James Larkin Pearson, the state's poet laureate from 1953 to 1981, who gathered data on Wilkes County for the guide. At the urging of national officials, the state operation hired several black researchers.

 

Mountains Most Wanted

Some readers criticized us for inserting race into this story about the makeup of the city's boards and commissions and for NOT including race in this one about violent crime.

read more

There are so many food scares these days that I can hardly keep up. I totally missed this. From www.foodpoisonjournal.com: 

The JBS Swift Company recall of four days ago has been increased to 380,000 pounds, up from 41,280 pounds.

Contamination from E. coli O157:H7 at its Greeley, CO processing plant has now linked JBS with an ongoing investigation into 24 illnesses in multiple states by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (CDC)

With the JBS, there are currently seven beef recalls due to E. coli O157:H7 contamination according to the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

...

The 75 pounds of fresh beef trim products recalled on June 8th by Snow Creek Meat Processing in Seneca, SC all went to the Amazing Savings Stores in Asheville and Black Mountain, NC.   The retailers were identified on the same day by FSIS.

From a Carolina Stompers video capturing the celebration of the election of Timothy Johnson, left, the head of the Buncombe County Republican Party, to the second highest GOP post in the state. Carl Mumpower, right, is running for re-election to Asheville City Council.

Mountains Most Wanted

George W. Bush had an outstanding President's Council on Bioethics that wrestled with such questions as embryonic stem cell research and cloning.  It was composed of intellectual heavyweights like Leon Kass who paid particular heed to the concept of "ethics".

That has now changed.  Barack Obama has scrapped the old council. And according to World:

Obama indicated that he plans to appoint a new bioethics commission that will offer “practical policy options” rather than functioning like a “philosophically leaning advisory group.”

So that is the new spin.  On questions of ethics and human life, do what is practical rather than what is right.  Ethics thus become situational under the new President.  I suppose we should not be surprised.

But there is another interesting dimension.  Most people know about Rahm Emanuel-- the former Chicago congressman who is Obama's chief of staff.  But fewer know that Rahm has a brother who happens to be a physician-- and his name is Zeke.

Zeke Emanuel, partially by virtue of his status as a physician and his relation to Rahm, has been granted a high level of access and influence as a White House health care policy advisor.  He, of course, favors a pathway to universal coverage; and will advocate the administration's position.

But it also turns out that Zeke has a significant background in bioethics.  And it seems likely that he shares Obama's worldview on that topic.  I do not know, however, to what extent he will influence Obama's new commission on practical, situational bioethics.

From www.myweaverville.com:

The Beech Community will be celebrating its 125th consecutive celebration Saturday, July 4. Thought to be the oldest consecutive celebration in Western North Carolina, the festivities begin at 10 a.m. at the Beech Community Center (Sugar Cove Road  ). Here’s what to expect:

The celebration starts with a parade at 10 a.m. Everyone is invited and encouraged to participate. Line up by 9:45 a.m. on Roberts Cove Road . You can enter a float, decorate your pet, bicycle, truck, or 4-wheeler. After the parade, a patriotic program from guest speaker Tom Lawrence, a presentation of past celebrations, and music.  Following the program, a picnic lunch potluck - organizers ask that you bring your favorite food to share. To end the day, old-fashioned field games like the 3-legged race, sack races, watermelon spitting contest, and greased pole.

Also featured at the celebration this year, the Reems Creek Valley Extension Community Association will be demonstrating homemaking through the years in the community room after lunch.  Their group is the longest active Extension Community Association in WNC.

Finally, to commemorate the day, they have designed a t-shirt which will be on sale for $15, and a parade banner they would like everyone in attendance to sign.

 

An Asheville home-brewer has won national recognition for one of his homemade brews, yet another feather in the cap of Asheville's growing beer accolades.

Norm Penn's strong Scotch ale took second place in the Scottish and Irish Ale category of the American Homebrewers Association's National Homebrew Competition. That's huge, y'all.

The competition is the biggest beer competition in the world, with thousands of entries. The international competition recognizes the most outstanding homebrewed beer, mead and cider made by amateur brewers.

The American Homebrewers Association is a division of the Brewers Association, established 1978 in Boulder, Colorado. In 1979, 34 entries competed in the first National Homebrew Competition held in Boulder, Colorado. This year, a total of 1,310 brewers entered the competition in the first round. Following that, 455 brewers qualified to enter 840 brews in the final round, and 422 brewers sent in 760 entries.

There were 84 category awards possible in the Final Round, and 71 brewers won those awards.

List of all winners is here.

Congratulations, Norm! When can I taste your award-winning beer?

I'm not sure why I haven't heard more about in area media about the expansion plans of Jackson Paper Manufacturing Co.. Maybe I haven't been paying attention. Luckily, the Southern Highland Reader has.

The blog has been steadfastly reporting on expansion plans, and concerns that the giant cardboard manufacturing plant, which xxxxx, might switch from wood chips to coal or rubber pellets to fire its operation.

Here's the set-up, from the Southern Highland Reader:

Last month, Jackson Paper Manufacturing Co., North Carolina’s largest recycling plant, announced an expansion that will add over 60 full-time jobs. The company makes corrugating medium for cardboard — the zig-zag paper that goes between the two outer layers of liner board to give it rigidity — from 100% recycled cardboard. Jackson Paper says it purchases over 100,000 tons of recycled cardboard each year from recycling centers across the region.

It employs 116 full time employees with an annual payroll of about $6 million.

In its first phase of expansion, Jackson Paper will begin making “complete” cardboard by purchasing liner board material and using its own corrugating medium to make the final product. It will move into and equip the empty Chasam plant on Scotts Creek road for this purpose.

In the long term, Jackson Paper plans to build an additional 139,000-square-foot facility to manufacture its own liner board.

The expansion comes after a year-and-a-half of behind-the-scenes finagling with state and local officials. Sylva Mayor Brenda Oliver played a significant role, and the Jackson County Board of Commissioners went on to lend Jackson Paper a half-million dollars.

...

When Sylva enacted zoning, almost thirty years ago, the maximum industrial structure height was inadvertently set lower than the existing mill’s height. This was discovered during planning for Jackson Paper’s expansion, and the town of Sylva’s board of commissioners subsequently voted to raise the height limit.

Clean air activist Avram Friedman, Executive Director of the Canary Coalition, took exception, arguing that the zoning height difference was the only leverage the town had to ensure that the plant wouldn’t switch from its current wood chip fuel source to coal or rubber pellets — sources that its current air quality permit would allow, and that might seriously impact the town.

Here's the follow-up:

SYLVA–Officials at Jackson Paper Manufacturing Company in Sylva said Thursday that a new state-of-the-art boiler, planned for phase two of the company’s announced expansion, is a wood-burning system.

“It would be extraordinarily expensive to convert for use with other fuel sources,” said Lydia Carrington, spokesperson for the company.

Jackson Paper’s air quality permits allow it to burn coal, rubber pellets or natural gas, as long as it meets current air quality standards.

The boiler will be housed in a new addition to the Jackson Paper mill, for which the Sylva Town Board recently amended its industrial zoning regulations regarding structure height.

That change brought about complaints and eventually a lawsuit from four Sylva residents and the Sylva-based Canary Coalition, a clean air advocacy group.

Thanks to the Southern Highland Reader for keeping us in the loop.

 

Photo by Jason Sandford

You've got to hand it to the folks behind the "liberal media" meme. They've said it so long and so often that people just accept it as the truth, no matter how much evidence there is that corporate media work...

If you, like a kablillion other locals, were not lucky (and early) enough to snag tickets for the sold out screening of highly acclaimed, Winston-based film Goodbye, Solo at this year's RiverRun, consider yourself restocked, luckwise: said local awesomeness is currently being screened at The Grand.Current Showtimes: 12:40 | 2:50 | 5:00 | 7:15 | 9:30Goodbye, SoloThe Grand TheatreRiverRun Film

Dehlia Low, Kieran Ridge, Gina Villalobos:
Play this episode:









Dehlia Low web site
"Take Me Back" on






Gina Villalobos web site
"Take A Beating" on


Legal:

The Taproot Theme is "Big Trouble" licensed from Unique tracks. All other music is copyright by the artist and is used with permission.

Photo by Jason Sandford

There's a sweet little project in the works. It's the Freaks of Asheville 2010/11 calendar, and it's going to be packed with amazing photography and fun dates in the history of freakiness in Asheville.

The calendar is a fundraiser for Arts 2 People, a great local nonprofit that nurtures and supports local artists.

From the promo material, the calendar "will capture the power and personality of Asheville's eclectic creatives. ... "This is not the Asheville depicted in glossy vacation and real estate guides. It's the real, freaky deal, and it promises to boost our city to even greater heights by featuring and saluting the friendly freak culture that helps drive our art, our music, our hearts and yes, even our economy."

Here's the creative talent behind what I think is going to be a smash hit of a calendar:

- Kitty Love, executive director of Arts 2 People, a local tattoo artist and generally one cool, freaky chick.

- Michael Traister, the photographer I first noticed after his Faces of Izzy's book. This dude knows how to capture freaky on film.

- And Jon Elliston, managing freaky editor of the Mountain Xpress.

The calendar team is seeking sponsors. Email Kitty at arts2people@gmail.com.

Some hot shots:

- Asheville gets noticed again by ABC's Good Morning America. It's a never-ending love story.

- http://ifthataintcountryillkissyour.blogspot.com/ is a funny blog. Thanks to the Blog Log for pointing it out.

- This year marks the 30th anniversary of a rampage by a team of two seriously effed-up California serial killers, Bittaker and Norris. Starting in the summer of 1979, these guys cruised beach towns, picked up teenaged girls and tortured, raped and slaughtered them in the back of a van. I picked up a reference to them in a great summer thriller I'm reading called The Scarecrow.

 - Via the all-seeing BooneWeb.com, there's a new wind turbine on the campus of Appalachian State University, according to High Country Press: "Installation of a 100-kilowatt, community-scale wind turbine on the Appalachian State University campus has been completed and the turbine will soon begin generating electricity that will be fed into the system operated by New River Light and Power." 

- There's myweaverville.com and weaverville.com. Which is better? myweaverville.com, hands down.

Kay Hagan's picture graces the front page of Talking Points Memo, unfortunately: "Hagan Continues To Be Key Obstacle To Public Option In The Senate." Previously: Who does Kay work for?

If anyone's got an account at the Chronicle of Higher Education, I'd love to read the article cited in this piece by Lorraine Ahearn about the financial woes at Greensboro College.

In the midst of all the wedding cake tasting last week, I made two cakes myself. I admit, I was feeling competitive, and since my recipes have been chosen to suit my tastes exactly, it's no surprise I preferred them to ALL the boughten cakes. Here's one of my two favorite chocolate cake recipes.Chocolate Sour Cream Cake1-3/4 cup flour2/3 cup butter1-3/4 cup sugar1 ts vanilla3/4 cup cocoa1-1/2 ts

Gotta love the Asheville Twitter wars.

Looks like WLOSers John Le and Darcel Grimes are waging a friendly competition to see who can get the most followers on their respective Twitter feeds. Last I looked, Darcel was up on John by about 15 followers.

Here's Darcel, blogging about tweeting. She's soooo 2009:

I was leery of it when I first started. I had that sort of uncomfortable feeling that I got the first time I tried to cook a meal. What would I possibly do on Twitter? How would I ever get the real hang of it? This was definitely not for me. But, as the saying goes... slowly but surely things changed. I soon began to marvel at the wonders of this new technology. I reunited with former co-workers and friends. The tweets from others made me laugh . And, then once I started doing it, I didn't want to stop. That's when it hit me. I was hooked on Twitter. Oh, how the non-techies have fallen. But, I don't mind. I'm enjoying Twitter. We even have a little newsroom competition going. John Le wants to get more twitter followers than me. I "Absolute-Le" don't want that to happen. So If you haven't tried twitter, shoot me a tweet. If you're already on twitter, follow me, "Darcel Grimes". 

So there you have it. The Diva is getting hooked up.

In other major local Twitter news, there was a small, but perhaps instructive, example a couple of weeks ago of how not to use Twitter. 

A little more than a week ago, somebody set up a Twitter account named "MayorBellamy," named for Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy, who is running for re-election this year.

I say "somebody" because I have yet to determine who set it up, but it looked official. It featured a picture of Bellamy speaking from a podium. Within a few hours, MayorBellamy had hundreds of followers, and MayorBellamy was sending out tweets promoting the mayor's accomplishments in office. 

The sudden explosion caught a few local Twitter nerds off balance, and they started asking questions. Who exactly is "MayorBellamy"? Was it an officially sanctioned Twitter account? Was there a ghostwriter behind the tweets, and if so, was that an ethical and transparent action on the part of a local politician? And why was Bellamy, a church-going mother of two small children, following the tweets of pro wrestlers and porn stars?

The backlash resulted in the MayorBellamy Twitter account being taken down within about 36 hours of its creation. 

As yet, there have been no clear answers volunteered by any of the parties involved. I haven't had a chance to track down Mayor Bellamy personally and ask her, but I intend to. 

 

Photo by Jason Sandford

The Montford Park Players are a true Asheville treasure, and they're really hitting on all cylinders this year.

The group, which calls itself the state's longest running Shakespeare festival, is an all-volunteer acting corps that devotes countless hours to putting on the best stagecraft possible at the wonderfully warm Hazel Robinson Amphitheater at Montford Park.

Quality can vary with a dependance on volunteers, but the group working the past few years have taken the Montford Park Players to new heights. I saw The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) a few weeks back and simply loved the show. Funny, fast-paced, featuring talented actors.

The players just wrapped up A Midsummer's Night Dream. It got nothing but rave reviews from everyone I spoke to, and the players say they set an attendance record over the weekend. I'm sorry I missed the show.

There's plenty more fun to come this summer, with Cymbeline (July 10 through 25), Taming of the Shrew (July 31 through August 23), and Macbeth (September 11 through October 4). There's also the Asheville Shakesperience, which will be performing at the park.

Get out there and support a true Asheville gem.

 

Randomness from the week that was:

- J. Neal Jackson launched his campaign for Asheville City Council during a street party down on Eagle Street. The pop culture identifier of the day was the sale of Michael Jackson R.I.P. T-shirts. Did anyone get me one?

- The ground-breaking ceremony for Mountain Housing Opportunities' Glen Rock Hotel project was quite the event. I'm sorry I missed it. This project has long been on the books, and appears to me to be one of the most ambitious development projects I've seen lately. If it's successful, I think it could it has the potential to really boost the River District zone, which is really coming into its own.

- Back to the Eagle Street area: Anybody got an update on Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church's plans to demolish two old buildings they own down there? 

- Any reports from the Asheville Art Museum's big 60th anniversary party at the Orange Peel? It looked to be a big time, but it came on Saturday, the day after the big Beer Bash. I couldn't do both in one weekend.

- Speaking of the Beer Bash: What a frackin' party. The place was packed out - I'm guessing 600 or 700 people, all enjoying local hand-made beer and some great music by Rat Jackson, Wilsin and Floating Action. I was just amazed at how many people came out to the event.

I had more than one person ask me if the Beer Bash was going to be an annual event. My answer - I sure hope so. I think a great new summer event was born this weekend and should continue. Asheville beer lovers, what say you?

 

Story from the Hendersonville Times-News:

ASHEVILLE — AT&T activated a new cell site in Asheville that will provide coverage in the areas of I-26, I-40 and I-240, as well as the surrounding commercial and residential areas of southwest Asheville. It is the first of five new sites planned in Asheville this year. In all, AT&T plans to add more than 90 new cell sites in the Carolinas by the end of 2009.

...

From 2006–08, AT&T total capital investment in North Carolina was more than $1.2 billion. As part of its 2009 investment, AT&T plans to launch its 3G service in Asheville before the end of the year. AT&T’s 3G network is the nation’s fastest 3G network, according to recent data compiled by leading independent wireless research firms.

 

This is goood!!! C. Dancy II – DCN Publisher To paraphrase Caesar, as he stood over the gallant Marc Antony, I come not to bury our Fathers, but to praise them, on this "Father’s Day." Now, more than ever before, it is time to tell the truth about African American fathers. I think of my own my [...]

No doubt about it, Michael Jackson died as he lived: with an unbelievable scrum running slightly behind. And while his untimely demise may have been broken by the new likes of Twitter and TMZ, the pros quickly moved in to smother the bones. That included some friends of mine. Malkoff, Frank, Browning, Orozco, Busse ... they and hundreds of their closest competitors ended the week over Jackson''s Hollywood star - just in case he arose with dancing zombies in tow. So far they're a no-show, but it didn't stop a posse of photogs and fanatics from forming where usually only tourists dare to tread. Size-wise, L.A. hasn't seen this kind of pile-on since O.J. Simpson got away with murder. How long the chattering classes will stand watch over this less than sacred sidewalk remains unknown, but one thing is for sure. As long as A-List celebrities die in scandalous manners, the Fourth Estate will roll up late and gesticulate.

Now step off my cable, wouldya? We go live in three minutes and the Elephant Man wants to give a shout-out...

So it looks like the EPA has begun to do what we would expect it to do, protect people and the environment.

First they called a public health emergency in Libby, Montana because of asbestos. The announcement should intensify cleanup efforts and provide better health protections to local residents impacted by asbestos-related diseases.

Then they announced that simply breathing the air in 600 neighborhoods increases your risk of developing cancer.

Now I'll never know why I got breast cancer so young but I find it interesting that I live in a nice clear area now but I grew up in Long Island which is just covered in color. You can look at the data and the maps here.

Welcome back EPA, glad to see that you weren't killed by the previous presidential administration!

Posted in Governor Beverly Perdue, NAACP NC

Back in December, Kelly Miller was applying for appointment to Asheville City Council, and he was grilled about his service on the Pack Square Conservancy.

Let me state for the record that I hate movies. They bore me. Very few movies retain my attention mental and physical attention. Mental, because I have the imagination from hell, which inclines me to prefer books. Physical, because sitting in one spot in a cramped theater is borderline torture for me. The last movie I watched from beginning to end completely in a theater setting was The Dark Knight, and only because I was dragged there by someone I respect enough to put up with my rebellious body. Someone please remind me to ask my doctor about restless leg syndrome when I go back for my checkup. Other than that, I am pretty much apathetic to Hollywood.

Last night was a bit different.

I have been waiting, very impatiently, for two years on this movie. So when I finally took my seat to the far left of the second row because the theater did not have the foresight to open more than one office window and only started taking Fandango reservations about ten minutes before the movie started, I was ready to explode. By the time the credits rolled, all my expectations had been met with accuracy an oracle couldn’t even match. I left my seat with two powerful truths:

The movie was absolutely horrid. The film behind the movie was too awesome to be described adequately in words.

Impossible conclusion, right? No. See, there are some things you have to accept about this film: It’s not about a story. It’s not about characters. It’s not about development. It’s not about all the other points movie reviewers use as dissection tools to earn their living. This “movie,” the cartoons, the comics, the entire franchise has always been and will always be about one, single, very simple concept:

Giant transforming robots. No more, no less.

If you have or plan to watch that film for any other reason than watching giant changing robots beat the slag out of each other, then you have:

A) missed the point
B) wasted your money
C) wasted valuable seats in the theater
D) enjoy torturing yourself
or
E) all of the above.

Movies like this are supposed to be mindless, juvenile, escapist masterpieces, and Michael Bay is the master of this. For two and a half hours, he assaults you with a visual and audio war zone of the likes you have never seen, with such an artistically chaotic precision that it will make you lose your mind to the point where in addition to the digital carnage, you are actually enjoying the over sexualized shots and the potty humor as if you were a hormonal fifteen year old male. For two and a half hours, I forgot everything. My bills, the economy, our government, Iran, global warming, your bladder, everything. My entire life ceased. I even managed to block out the screaming voice emanating from my legs that we must move immediately or you will not be able to walk properly for three hours. And trust me; it is very difficult to shut that voice up.

In short, I felt like a kid again, sitting in front of a TV, where everyday objects came to life and did battle over this silly planet. Only this time, instead of going outside after it was over and glaring at my parent’s old beat-up Bronco because he simply refused to “Transform and Roll Out” as I imagined he could in my head, I left the theater, looking across the parking lot with the stupidest grin on my face. That childhood imagination of mine was right all along; it just didn’t have ILM talent or rendering power behind it.

This wasn’t a movie. This was my inner self daydreaming.

Charlie Anders explains it better than I do, though.

_______________________________________________

That was my spoiler free review. If you are a masochist and you really want to be disturbingly enlightened to how embarrassingly huge my Transformers nerdness is, wait until after I see it on IMAX Sunday and you will enjoy spoilers and nitpicking that you will not fully understand.

photo: James Willamor; view this photo on Flickr

This is the second in a series titled “Creative Crossroads” — where we take a look at the current state of arts and creativity in the city.

Next year looks to be the biggest for arts in Uptown since the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center first opened its doors in November of 1992. No less than five new arts venues are set to open to the public in 2010, with the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art recently announcing its grand opening will be on January 2nd. The opening of the venues — the Knight Theater, the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, the Mint Museum, the Afro-American Cultural Center, and the NC Dance Theater –  marks an important crossroads for growth of Charlotte’s arts community.

A rundown of the projects and photos showing construction progress after the page break:

Bechtler Museum of Modern Art:

photo: James Willamor; view this photo on Flickr

The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art recently announced it will open to the public on January 2nd, 2010. The museum, with its impressive terra cotta tiled exterior and giant cantilever, was designed by renowned architect Mario Botta. Botta also designed the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The Bechtler collection includes many European and American mid-Twentieth Century artists, including Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, Jean Tinguely, Le Corbusier, Alberto Giacometti, and many others.

Mint Museum:

photo: James Willamor; view this photo on Flickr

The expansion of the Mint Museum will increase their total combined square footage by 60 percent. The new facility will also feature a museum gift shop with 50 percent more space, a café with indoor and outdoor terrace dining, a grand room for rent and special events. In addition, the new museum will feature a special events space with rooftop terrace that is twice the size of that currently available at the North Tryon Street facility. The museum plans to open in Fall of 2010.

Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts and Culture:

photo: James Willamor; view this photo on Flickr

The new 44,000 square foot Afro-American Cultural Center will feature three state-of-the-art galleries, classrooms, presentation spaces and a multi-purpose theater/lecture hall facility. The center was built atop the entrance ramp on College Street which leads to the six underground levels of the Duke Energy Center. The side of the building facing the surface parking lot was intentionally left blank in anticipation that the lot will one day be redeveloped. The African American Cultural Center is currently located in the historic Little Rock AME Zion Church in First Ward.

Knight Theater:

photo: James Willamor; view this photo on Flickr

In addition to being the primary venue for the NC Dance Theater, the new Knight Theater will host Opera Carolina and the Charlotte Symphony. It will also host musical theater, concerts, tours, lectures, and film. With 1,150 seats on two levels, the Knight Theater will fit in between the 434 seat Booth Playhouse, and the 2,100 seat Belk Theater. The theater is scheduled to open in January of 2010.

NC Dance Theater:

rendering: NC Dance Theater; view this rendering on their website

photo: James Willamor; view this photo on Flickr

The new NC Dance Theater facility will be located on North Tryon Street next to the McColl Center for Visual Arts. The building will have six rehearsal studios, three of which will overlook Tryon Street. The facility will also have offices, a costume shop, and dressing rooms. The main performance venue for the NC Dance Theater will be the Knight Theater. The facility is set to open in Spring of 2010.

The following sideshow is a chronological tour of the construction progress of these arts projects:

photos: James Willamor; view this slideshow on Flickr

From Jeff Vandermeervia BoingBoing. Excerpts from "An Interview with Melanie Typaldos About Her Caplin Rous":Caplin is at least as smart as a dog, although differently motivated. He won't do anything if there isn't something in it for him. It seems like he recognizes every person he's ever met and reacts differently to them. In general, he is a very sweet and affectionate animal. He likes to sit

There'll be more of this when we humans leave the planet.

There are dangers to be an auto-racing writer, something I did for more than a decade.

I had just covered the 1999 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and I was heading out to find a restaurant. I was sitting in race traffic, totally unawares, when it happened.

There was a car in front of me with a bunch of party-ready young women. Two young men in cowboy hats were out in someone's yard, dancing for them. The problem was that the cowboy hats were their main attire. The well-built men, apparently exotic dancers, wore what amounted to the male version of a G-string.

So I sat there an interminable 10 minutes that felt like three hours, watching these guys gyrate and the girls giggle. Traffic wasn't moving, and I was wondering if there were girls in the lead car, way down the road, looking back with binoculars and stopping traffic.

I sure didn't want to watch it, but I had no choice. Eventually, we moved on and I got to a Bob Evans Restaurant, where I was ignored for 45 minutes. But that's another story.

I've seen some strange things at races, though. One year, an older couple had an electrical fire in an Charlotte Motor Speedway parking lot. Sadly, their mobile home burned down. It provided tremendous fireworks, though.

Another year, I was in Charlotte race track, and some guy in a big, jacked-up pickup truck decided to drive across a ditch. He didn't make it; his truck nose-dived into the ditch, with the tailgate sticking high in the air. He got a standing ovation from the campers on the other side of the ditch and a thumbs up from me. Anybody stupid enough to try to drive across that ditch deserves what he gets.

In 1990, I was leaving Atlanta Motor Speedway after Friday qualifying, and it was a magnificent day. By the time I reached Interstate 75, it looked like Noah should be piloting his ark. It got so bad that I couldn't see through the rain on the windshield, and, at one point, some guy passed me on the interstate, it got even worse.

Suddenly, lightning flashed, and I could see through the rain. But I wasn't happy to see a tornado traveling left to right, about five miles ahead of me. I couldn't get off the interstate -- I could even tell what lane I was in -- so I kept going. Fortunately, the tornado kept tracking to the east, and I made it to the hotel near the airport.

My friend Jim McLaurin were in Atlanta for the Storm of the Century in 1993, and we wound up sitting in a motel room for two days because of the snow. We had to "skate" down a tilted sidewalk for dinner at least one day. Another time, we were sitting around the room with our door open, and a family from Florida was encountering their first snow.

Their daughter slipped on the ice, and we heard the "thump" as her head hit the pavement. We sweated with everyone in the hotel as we waited for the ambulance to show up.

The ride home from Atlanta was an adventure. A few drivers braved the Atlanta interstates, and most tried to approximate the normal breakneck speed that's almost a requirement in Atlanta. When I reached the snowy exit to Interstate 20, I saw a car buried under snow at the bottom of the exit. I stayed high and drove at a moderate rate, and some idiot tried to pass me between my rental Buick and the buried car. The idiot wound up buried with him.

That's wasn't the only weather adventure for Jim and me. In 1991, there was an awful thunder storm at Talladega Superspeedway, with lightning striking in the infield and outside the track. Jimmy Mac and I were stuck in the metal pressbox, not the lightning-rod-like place we wanted to be.

So we rushed out into the monsoon and we slid down a muddy bank along with the rushing water. We got into Jimmy Mac's truck and sat until we could back out. As we drove through the parking lot, we saw a Camaro with water all the way to the top of the tire wells. That thing wouldn't crank anytime soon.

The next day, a Monday, we were in the Talladega infield media center -- we weren't going back to the pressbox, ever -- and it was a beautiful day. A crewman, wearing headphones with antennas, was regaling us with stories before the race. He said that, during the storm the day before, he was standing near the fuel pumps, and he wondered why everyone was running away from him.

Then he remembered he was wearing his mobile lightning rods. Even he had to grin ... and shudder.

I had the opportunity to attend Ben Holder's campaign event this evening.  The affair was pretty well attended.  I was glad for Ben.   

It was good to see and speak with some old friends in the blogging community; and also to meet some other folks for the first time.

It seems almost superfluous to say that Ben Holder would be quite an improvement over the incumbent.

Update: Tony Wilkins has a photograph of the five bloggers who were present.

Dear Curmilus, Yesterday, nearly two years after more than 320,000 of you stood up to protect them from Jim Crow justice, the Jena 6–Jesse Ray Beard, Carwin Jones, Robert Bailey, Theo Shaw, Bryant Purvis and Mychal Bell–are all now free to move ahead with their lives. We should all be proud. The five remaining Jena [...]

I don't take a lot of vacation. When I do, seminal figures tend to drop dead. Last year it was Jesse Helms. Tragic? Not so much. This year while I was slathering on sunscreen down by the shore, Ed McMahon coughed up his last guffaw, Farrah Fawcett truly became an angel and Michael Freakin' Jackson moonwalked off to another realm. I was sitting in a seaside bistro with my family, about to rip into a half pound burger I did not need, when my cell phone began to vibrate. 'In case you haven't heard,' the text read, 'Michael Jackson is dead.' HUH? A check with the chatty waitress confirmed it: the self-annointed King of Pop had indeed kicked it. What followed was a delicate dissertation on the Michael Jackson canon; one in which I danced around the Jesus Juice, the nose-melting surgery binges, the molestation charges, the cryogenic sleep chamber, the fact that he named one of his kids 'Blanket'... What I tried to convey to my two daughters was that that once upon a time the crazy white woman the Brits call 'Wacko-Jacko' was a young black man who just happened to be the most exciting entertainer on the planet.

I was 15 when 'Thriller' came out. While not a typical Motown fan I was a follower of The Isley Brothers (thanks to my older bro's vinyl collection) and deeply enamored with MTV. Back then, Music Television was just that - a 24 hour cable channel that played incredibly new inventions called 'viddy-oze'. I was hooked. And while I couldn't identify with 'Billie Jean' and 'Beat It' quite like I could, say, 'Jack and Diane', even a rhythm-free bookworm like myself could not deny the infectious lure of the dude with the one white glove. Hell, for awhile he made high-waters cool! And while I may never have rocked a red sequined jacket, I damn sure bought 'Thriller' on cassette and danced to it in my room when I was sure no one was looking. If any other survivor of the 1980's tells you different, they're lying.

But it didn't end there. Jackson released more hits, influenced just about everyone, then got deeply weird. I don't know much about that period. The last song/video of his I dug was 'Smooth Criminal' (and if you didn't like it, you ain't got a pulse). I do however know a thing or three about Elvis Presley. Like Michael, he was handed the globe on a silver platter at a very young age and - quite rightly - went out of his gourd. The day he died, I was ten. I still remember picking butter beans out behind my parent's trailer when my grandmother burst out of her home, housecoat a-flutter, yelling "Elvis Died!". 'That fat dude in the jumpsuits?' I asked. Over the next few hours, my elders educated me on the cultural signifigance of the hillbilly with the million dollar sneer. Slowly but surely, I became a fan. I couldn't help but think of that day as I explained to my kids how Michael Jackson broadened his appeal by tapping Eddie Van Halen to shred on 'Beat It'. I'm not sure they got it, but I have great faith they eventually will.

Funny how the world works...

Andrew Klavan offers some video commentary spoofing Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

A source provides me with some information suggesting that it is unlikely that $30 million will ultimately be loaned to the state DOT for the Urban Loop.   Recall that the News and Record editorialized on the matter a couple of days ago; and was dubious regarding the idea.

Some citizens cannot fathom, however, the representation made last year that we had to refrain from paving local streets because a tax increase was not then being approved.  We now are being told that there is $30 million in transportation bond money available to loan to the state for completion of the Urban Loop; but apparently we would have to raise taxes to enable adequate maintenance of existing roads.

A national organization called FreedomWorks is asking North Carolinians to contact their state legislators about the looming tax increases we are facing.

It is a bad reflection on our state when we attract attention from an organization such as this.  Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey is one of its leaders.

I can’t imagine what it is like without my father being involved in my life. I can take the President’s word because he has been in that situation. However I do know how it is to try to be in a child’s life when the mother moves 4 hours away trying to keep me from being [...]

I'm at the sink, washing the garden dirt off my hands."Oh, excellent! Lovely call! What are we having?""The kids are having burgers. I am having fish. You are having a little steak.""Fantastic! See, this is why I married you.""That's a lie. We lived in the city. We didn't even have a grill.""I sensed your skill."My husband snorts as I reach for the nailbrush."You growing anything I should grill

Posted in Announcement, NAACP Hoke County Branch, NAACP NC

6. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.