At the racetrack

Kind of shocked to be spending Friday night at the racetrack, even if it's for a screening of ROAD WARRIOR.

Update: Pictures!

Alamo Drafthouse inflatable screen in the middle of the racetrack!

More about Asheville

Being that I've spent so much time in Asheville over the years, I tend to forget that other people don't have the same visual references that I do for the city. So here's a selection of scenes from (greater) Old Asheville and New Asheville.

To start us off, here's a photo of "Old Asheville vs. New Asheville"

When I got out of the truck to to take this picture, the woman who was leaving the house behind the trashed TV told me I was the third person to stop and take a picture. "Why do you all do that" she then asked me.

I told her that, for me, it was symbolic of the changes taking place in Asheville right now. She then told me about her mother, who had lived in the same spot for 26 years and whose rent was now going up. Don't forget that Gentrification has its drawbacks.

Old Asheville vs. New Asheville in one shot.

 I find it interesting that several times when I was in Asheville, people make remarks to me about "the tourists." I guess that means I'm nearly a local.

Old Time Asheville: 

I don't know when this was painted, but this is the sort of street-side  art that I've seen in Asheville since the 80's.

Pink Dogwood tree blooming on Easter Sunday, at the Pisgah View Ranch

Asheville, NC Has Gotten All Hipped-Up

Dogwood tree in Bloom, April 2012

For the last 200 or so years, my family has been living in the hills around Asheville, N.C. This means I've been going to Asheville ever since I was a baby. While there, I've visited my family, driven through downtown, then visited some more family.

In the late 80's, I started insisting that I be taken to the occasional interesting event in Asheville while I was there. Sometimes it was a poetry reading, sometimes a pottery exhibition. Usually the "interesting thing" turned out not to be so interesting after all, which is good because I usually needed to take one of my great-aunts to the grocery store while I was in town.

A few years ago, I figured out that something was afoot in Asheville. Back in Austin, I was wearing a T-shirt from the Early Girl Eatery which has the words "Asheville, NC" on the reverse side, when I was stopped by a couple of women. They wanted to know what Asheville was really like, because they were thinking about moving there.

Then the couple who used to live across the street from me in Austin up and moved to Asheville, saying that it was a lot like Austin was 30 years ago.

Over this past Easter weekend, I went to Asheville for the first time in a couple of years. Since I've been gone, the city has hit hipster critical mass.

Damn Girl! playing at the Altamont Brewing Company, West Asheville

In less than a week in Asheville--and without disturbing my family activities--I did a lot of things that I never thought I'd do in Asheville. I ate at a Korean BBQ Taco Truck. I went to a Brewery Co-op. I even bought a tiny hat that's the sort of hat that passes for high fashion in the Burningman-ish community.