Gulf Oil Spill Podcasts Recorded in Asheville

Podcasts that discuss research underway on the effects of the Gulf Oil Spill were recorded in Asheville at 2Bruce Studios. I produced and directed these podcasts (Part I and Part II) on behalf of a non-profit, Silicon Valley-based R&D organization. In them, Larry Langebrake, the director of the firm's Marine Technology Program, talks about aspects of the spill that haven't been discussed in any other medium. The ocean research being conducted will have far-reaching implications for marine life in the Gulf for decades to come. I'm proud that this podcast was produced and directed in Asheville.

Ken Klehm and the Rocket Club

ken and rocket club
Originally uploaded by zen

By now you've heard the West Asheville news, the main East West-Asheville music venue will be closing doors this Saturday. I got a chance to talk with Ken Klehm and he said he could "wax poetic for hours" about why it didn't quite work out, and he headed the list with the large number of Asheville venues, including those that had very deep pockets and those that were willing to resort to unorthodox activity. But it wasn't sour grapes for Ken, as he included the downturn in economy and size of the venue, with it's high ceilings and wide open spaces not providing quite the cozy and intimate atmosphere that he imagined.

Ken also talked about what he wanted to do now, and he honestly hadn't thought much about it, but scrunched up his face at the thought of putting together a resume to pitch to the 9-5 workforce. "My favorite all-time job was as a SCUBA dive instructor. I was good at it and loved making it fun and exciting for people." Ken has the kind of self-effacing egoless manner that would make a good teacher and he said that "in the 5 or so years i taught he only got one complaint." Which was why the establishment he worked for gave him free rein to teach his style. Ken also reminisced about cave diving - an activity that would scare the crap out of me. His 'final exam' for cave diving certification was to go 1/4 mile into a cave where no surface exits were and buddy-breath with a partner all the way back to the entrance in darkness and while the instructor messed with the return line and undid fin straps to unnerve him. He loved it and never got rattled. Which is the way ken is - unflappable. I don't doubt whatever he does do he'll do with all his heart and soul.

We'll be seeing Ken around East West Asheville probably at the DeSoto Lounge which was started by one of his protogees and is "a fine bar, indeed."

Tomato Jam Cafe changes owners, farewell party Sat June 26

Tomato Jam Cafe, one of my favorite lunch spots, undergoes a change in management as owners Rebecca and Charlie move their family back home to California.

It's a sad, sad day for Asheville Twitter Nation (who met there frequently for chicken gyros, spoonbread and Charlie's killer cupcakes), for all their Asheville fans, and for me.

The cafe will continue under the same name with new owners Deb and Cory. Meet them and say goodbye to Rebecca, Charlie and Willow at a "Passing-of-the-Spatula" pot luck get-together in the Tomato Jam parking lot Saturday night at 6:30.

The goodbye party even has its own Eventbrite site where you can register your covered dish!

From the Eventbrite site:

Tomato Jam Cafe

Passing of the Spatula Party

Come celebrate with us as Tomato Jam Cafe enters a new era!

WHAT: Meet new owners Deb and Cory and their family, passing the spatula to them with Jose and Mago, Marsa and Daniel. Send off Charlie, Rebecca and Willow Mae on their new adventure to California to live near family.

WHEN: Saturday, June 26th from 6:30 to 9 or so

WHERE: Tomato Jam's parking lot

BRING: A covered dish * what you want to eat on & with * chairs to sit * something to drink if tea and lemonade are not your cup of...tea.

***

Goodbye Charlie and Rebecca (and Willow), and good luck! I wish Deb and Cory well, but it's not going to be the same without you. See you on the Twitter, and thanks for friendship, good times and good food. We are really going to miss you.

YWCA New Choices

Cross-posted from the YWCA of Asheville's blog.

In this video, Jodi Rhoden talks about how the YWCA of Asheville’s New Choices drop-in childcare program helped her when she was starting her business, Short Street Cakes. The YWCA New Choices program supports the economic empowerment of women with one-on-one case management and the “Circles of Hope” support group in addition to drop-in childcare. Find out more about New Choices at www.ywcaofasheville.org.



Video by Sabrina Nizzi, www.sabrinanizzi.com.

New CD in the works from Asheville guitar god Aaron "Woody" Wood

(Aaron Wood photo by Jason Sandford of Ashvegas)

Call him Woody or call him Aaron, the Asheville guitarist Aaron "Woody" Wood (Blue Rags, Hollywood Red, Custard Pie) is generally regarded by local musicians and music fans alike as one of our city's most talented rock guitarists.

I lucked into a copy of his outstanding new solo EP, and it turns out he can sing AND write great songs as well as tear up an electric guitar.

Aaron Wood bio quote: "The skinny white boy from the mountains Western North Carolina carries around more soul in his restless bones and battered guitar than most of us ever dream of." Word.

Check his soulful new self-titled EP out online here: enter the site and click on music to hear the whole thing streamed.

Turns out Wood made some musical connections at HATCHfest, found a new manager and is on the road to recording a new CD. He's doing it in a way I find completely fascinating: he's using kickstarter, a website that calls itself "a funding platform for artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians, journalists, inventors, explorers."

Kickstarter lets fans pledge money towards a pre-stated goal. If the goal is met, the work goes forward. If it's not met, everyone keeps their money. From Wood's blog:

That’s the great thing about the site, you aren’t just asking people to give you money, you create different tiers of what you as an artist will give to them for a certain dollar amount. So, someone can support you for as little as say, $6 and get a download of songs, or they can get something for $25, up to a private show for say, $1000. Here’s the kicker though…It’s all or nothing. You set the budget, the time frame, and the different incentives you’ll give for the different level of money but if you don’t raise your goal by the end of your time then you don’t get any of it.

I don't yet know how much Wood needs to raise, but I listened in to his radio interview this week on WNCW and heard him mention private concerts, recording a cover of a fan-selected song, some neat stuff. He really seems to plan a fan-centric effort with real interactivity with fans of his music -- "You hold my hand, I'll hold yours," he said.

I've been a fan of Wood's since seeing him play the first time and wondering who the hell it was that was shredding the guitar like that. I think I'm gonna pony up.

The kickstarter effort starts this month, and I'll link to it when it goes live. There should be a press release soon for Wood's recording efforts. I'll post it here when I get it.

I work tangentially in the music business as a social media marketer for a local company that provides art and designs to musicians. It's brought me in contact with some new music models that fascinate me utterly: Amanda Palmer and OK Go mindfully and intentionally leaving their labels, Sxip Shirey financing his own CD on kickstarter... OK Go now sells content-filled custom USB drives at concerts, and Amanda Palmer and band have fans cook them meals on the road.

Over at Ashvegas blog, local musician Ami Worthen commented that her own band, Mad Tea Party, did something very similar to Kickstarter with PayPal back in 2006 for their release "Big Top Soda Pop." It's looks like Wood is traveling down the same road.

I'm on board for the ride and I hope it takes him all the places he deserves to go.

***

Twitter: @AaronWoodyWood

Aaron "Woody" Wood on Facebook

Aaron "Woody" Wood blog

Aaron Wood Music website

Great June 22 Ashvegas post on how Wood is using kickstarter to fund his CD

Volunteer group to clear sidewalk to closed Hillcrest bridge, Sat 8:30-noon

(Z-Link volunteers clearing a neglected sidewalk in Montford)

From the Z-Link blog, some information about a community effort to clean the sidewalk leading to the closed Hillcrest bridge. Z-Link calls itself a "volunteer sidewalk clean-up effort kicked off by city council member Cecil Bothwell and Asheville PARC (People Advocating Real Conservancy)":

Upcoming Events

Bring a flat bladed shovel, hoe, rake or push broom if you have one, but PARC and my campaign are providing tools and blue bags.

Saturday, June 26, 8:30 a.m. to noon, Chicken Hill
Can you volunteer ONE HOUR to help recover Asheville’s sidewalks? We’ll be clearing the sidewalk to the closed Hillcrest pedestrian bridge, on the city-side of the span. This sidewalk also connects to a stairway leading down to the River District. We’ll meet at the end of Roberts Street near the church. (Turn off Haywood Road at the east end of the French Broad River Bridge, where all the road construction is going on, continue to the sharp curve where the road heads down to the river again.) Contact me.

***

More about Z-link in this June 22 Ashvegas post that includes a 6-minute video telling more about Z-Link's efforts to clear walkable but hard-to-navigate sidewalks covered by grass and dirt from years of neglect, and to note areas that don't yet have sidewalks but need them.

As Bothwell points out, we all pay our share of taxes, but we don't all get our share of sidewalks.

Pedestrian death/Hillcrest bridge news and info roundup

(Hillcrest bridge photo by Jonathan Welch of Mountain Xpress)

A pedestrian was struck by a car and killed Wednesday as he attempted to cross 240 near the Smoky Park bridge.

Here's a photo, video and news roundup of what happened and what people in our community are saying about a young man's senseless death. Some background: a pedestrian bridge connecting the Hillcrest area and downtown would have allowed the man to cross safely, but was closed down 16 years ago.

According to a 1999 AC-T article quoted on Ashvegas, police sought the bridge's closure because, they said, suspects could slip out over it during drug raids.

The Swannanoa man killed, Anthony Ray Gilmore, was 25. He was not the first person to be killed crossing 240 in this area.

I believe I read that his father has since collected approximately 300 signatures requesting the re-opening of the Hillcrest pedestrian bridge -- can anyone verify?

Here's a roundup of articles, pictures and info.

Citizen-Times, June 17: Man fatally struck near Smoky Park Bridge

Gilmore was running across the highway toward Hillcrest Apartments just west of the bridge around 9:30 p.m. when he was hit by 2002 Chevrolet Cavalier headed west in the far right lane, police said.

Gilmore was dead at the scene.

Ashvegas blog, June 17: In wake of pedestrian death on I-240 near Smoky Park Bridge, a question: Is pedestrian bridge open?

This isn't the first time a person has been struck and killed while trying to cross the highway at this location - generally just on the downtown side of the Smoky Park Bridge, where Patton Avenue turns into an interstate on-ramp, and where drivers exit to take the new I-26 north toward Weaverville.

Gordon Smith, Scrutiny Hooligans blog, June 17: Not To Be Repeated

I’m going to listen to neighborhood residents and the police department in order to make an informed decision, but my initial reaction is that we’ve got to give Hillcrest residents a direct route downtown.

We also need an I-26 Connector that will rejoin Hillcrest to downtown in a permanent and meaningful way. Isolating neighborhoods doesn’t make things better.

Ashvegas blog, June 18: There's no need for closed pedestrian bridge over I-240 in Asheville when people are dying

There's no need to keep Hillcrest cut off from the rest of the world any more than it already is. Surrounded by a tangle of interstate highway, there's only one way to drive in and out of the complex, and if police want to go after somebody there, they can just station a couple of officers at the back, where the pedestrian bridge connects.

Facebook photo album: Hillcrest/I-240 pedestrian bridge

(Hillcrest Bridge photo by Jason Sandford)

June 18, Mountain Xpress: In wake of death, city officials look at re-opening Hillcrest bridge

“When you’re standing right here, it looks like the cars are really far away, then you realize how fast they’re going,” he says, adding that re-opening the bridge and clearing off the sidewalk — after consultations with the Asheville Police Department and Hillcrest residents — would be a temporary measure until a the construction of the Interstate 26 interchange better integrates the apartments with downtown. “Open the bridge, clear the sidewalk and we’re good ... this has been going on too long, it’s time for Hillcrest to be part of the city again.”

June 19: Zen Sutherland's 39-second video of the bridge



An article on lack of sidewalks in Asheville mentioning the Hillcrest bridge appeared in the Citizen-Times 15 days before Gilmore was struck and killed.

My questions: are infrequent pedestrian deaths worth the benefit of cutting off escaping suspects from Hillcrest? (I'm having a hard time seeing any way the benefit could possibly outweigh the cost.) How do the people who live there feel about having the bridge closed, and having it re-opened? What are the community benefits to reopening the bridge, aside from offering safe crossing? Are there other closed pedestrian bridges in town we all need to look at reopening?

Asheville, what do we do now?

***

Added June 20: May 1998 Mountain Xpress article on closing the bridge

Maybin, president of the residents' group at Hillcrest, remembers how things were before the bridge was closed: Drug dealers and gamblers gathered near the walkway and in nearby vacant apartments at night; children found discarded syringes and condoms littering the area during the day; residents discovered apartments vandalized, with feces smeared on the walls; drug dealers paid little kids a couple bucks to carry drugs up the hill to waiting cars.

"You could reassure people here all you want to about reopening this bridge," Maybin said. "But when people are afraid, they're afraid."

Dripolator Asheville first anniversary 6/19: specials, music, art, free coffee

Win $200: Asheville Brewing beer label design contest

An Asheville company, Creative Allies, joins with Asheville Brewing to create a new local artisan beer. $200 contest to design the label (disclosure: I work for Creative Allies). The contest ends June 23, so get designing...

From a press release:

The Creative Allies crew is always hanging out backstage at the best music festivals throughout the year and we've decided to celebrate the next one with our very own creative ale, "Backstage Betty."

We just need you to design a wicked label that epitomizes the perfect Betty hanging out with us behind the scenes. Think "Almost Famous" meets a Vargas pin-up gal.

Download the supplied beer-label template and start your creating your designs for the "Backstage Betty" ale.

Label Requirements
• Creations must be uploaded on the official template (download support files above)
• Must have the name: Backstage Betty Ale
• Use the reference images and description as inspiration
• All beer labels need to be approved by the state alcohol commission - because of this, avoid any offensive language or imagery

Learn more about the contest here.