ephemera

Asheville's Year of Bliss Slideshow

For those who missed my February appearance at the Asheville Public Library, you can now view the slides from my talk--Asheville's Year of Bliss (October 2007 to October 2008) at slideshare.

Order your very own copy of A Year in Asheville.

My 2009 DITLOA Photo Contribution - Outdoor Chess Match

This photograph was shot for the 2009 Day in the Life of Asheville (DITLOA) project, which took place on 5/23.

I shot this chess match in downtown Asheville.

The top 100 images taken during the DITLOA event are displayed at the local library. There are over 100 photographers involved, mostly pros (unlike me).

Last year, I submitted the maximum number of images (15) and none of them made the library cut. I only thought three of my 2009 images were worthy of submitting, including this "study in concentration." To see my two other DITLOA contributions, click here (they are top row of photographs shown).

I believe I had THE shot of the day, but, at the last second, a man stepped in front of my camera--ruining a shot of a bride riding in trolley filled with groomsmen. I could've been a contender...

 

Asheville Bear Attack Revisited

My recent post about our encounter with a local bear and our subsequent salvation at the hands of a brave neighborhood dog has received more than 14,000 page views. That's a lot of visitors—a 20-fold increase over the average daily traffic for this site. Folks, it seems people enjoy tales of my flesh potentially being clawed off more than they do reading charming missives about antique paper. I suppose I'd be the Perez Hilton of animal attacks had I begun blogging on that topic four years ago. Instead, I followed my passion (thanks Vaynerchuk), and I'm left scratching out 10 cents a day in Adsense clicks.

Of course, I'm happy that McCloud, the hero of our tale, received his 15 minutes. (I love that pooch.) But where does this leave me? Well, I assure you I'm not walking around these hills—coated in honey—looking for trouble. I don't need the traffic that bad. But, if you love old paper and don't want to see this blog take an ugly turn, I suggest you Stumble this post or Digg it or Tweet it or something.

[Editor's Note: Of those 14,000 souls who read my bear attack story, one had the audacity to leave a comment on StumbleUpon that my post was "retarded." Apparently, the commentator, a 23-year-old Bronx resident, is an authority on Brown Bear behavior; he was confounded that we'd encounter a bear in the mountains of Western North Carolina and that said bear would be roused by a barking dog from whatever happy time he was enjoying behind a tree. He must have this sort of bear encounter all the time in the Bronx. But I assure him and all of you, McCloud did save us and we remain profoundly grateful. If it ever happens again, I hope I have a video camera—YouTube here I come!]

 

 

Man’s Best Friend Thwarts Bear

This is a true story.

The other evening my wife and I went for our usual stroll around our neighborhood in Asheville's delightful Beaverdam area. About halfway up the block, we were met, as we usually are, by McCloud, an affable, intelligent, and powerful mutt who belongs to one of the neighbors but generally patrols the area and drops in on favorite haunts, including our house from time to time. On this particular evening, McCloud ran toward us and rolled over for his usual belly rub. When we tried to continue up the block, McCloud did something I'd never seen him do—he barked at us. Then, he ran a few paces ahead of us and barked loudly again in the direction of a nearby tree. We both uttered, "Something is wrong." We stood and watched in horror as McCloud ran forward and flushed a bear that had been hiding behind the tree the whole time. The bear reared up on its hind legs. McCloud stood bravely between us and the angry bear as we slowly backed away. McCloud stood his ground and continued to hold off the bear as we retreated to a safe distance.

Throughout the ordeal, I kept watch on McCloud as we moved slowly out of danger. I couldn't stand the thought of something happening to that brave dog. As I watched, McCloud did something even more astonishing: he turned his back on the bear to look at us. (I can only assume he did so to make sure we were safely away.) McCloud then wheeled on the bear and drove it off into the woods. We were now hundreds of yards down the block, but we never took our eyes off of McCloud.

Once the bear was gone, McCloud trotted back to us as though nothing major had happened. He rolled on his back again so we could resume his belly rub, undisturbed.

 

Faces of Asheville Pre-Exhibit Exhibit

With much of the technical work on the Jenny Bowen's Faces of Asheville (FOA) portraits complete, the photographer plans to host a one-night only FOA pre-exhibit at Asheville's Orange Peel on Monday, February 16.

"The entire project has been done as a labor of love," says Bowen. The event will feature local music, regional food, and an entire community celebrating itself.

The original goal of FOA was to capture portraits of 100 or so individuals with the hope of getting a cohesive vision of Asheville's greater image. This past January through April (2008), Bowen captured almost 350 individual portraits (mine included), and another 40 or so group portraits, documenting almost every cultural aspect of urban Asheville and the region.

"There is something significant about this specific place where the Great Smokey Mountains and the Southern Appalachians meet, and there is something equally significant to be found in the people who gather in the valleys below these peaks," says Bowen.

I'm looking forward to seeing my portrait among those that Bowen shot for the project.

I Love Asheville

For today's post, I couldn't resist sharing a few choice items from very funny page I found on Facebook titled, "You know you're from Asheville if…"

Disclaimer: If you've read more than one post on this blog, you know at least two things about me: 1) I'm originally from Chicago, and 2) I love Asheville.

I've dedicated a whole category to Asheville posts. Within the Asheville category, I've featured many items of ephemera related to this wonderful place in Western North Carolina. I'm a little further afield today, I realize, but I'm always interested in throwing a curveball or two, especially when it comes to Asheville. If you ever decided to visit here, you'll understand (and may never want to leave).

So, you know you're from Asheville if…

• you've sat in Pack Square…while, simultaneously, a war protest is going on by the Vance Monument, a busload of tourists go into the art museum, twenty people walk by with dreadlocks and smelling like patchouli oil, fifteen people walk by with dogs of varying sizes, two people walk by with cellos, and a crazy guy in a wheelchair pulls up to the angel statue and starts screaming at it, telling it that God is upset with its behavior and it had better shape up pronto before zooming off again.
• if you know all the homeless people by name, whether it's their given name or one that you made up for them.
• you hear that someone is protesting for public bathrooms after 9pm by wearing only an adult diaper and walking around downtown and you think that's a great idea.
• someone says "Lexington Avenue" and you don't need an explanation.
• anything weird you see does not appear weird because you have seen it all.
• even if it's a Bentley, it still has a bumper sticker on it.

There are 86 of these gems on the Facebook page. I can probably come up with 10 more that I'd add, but it's a masterpiece as it is.

Photograph "Two men dancing in Pack Square on the 4th of July" by me.

Mountain Xpress Showcases My Book: A Year in Asheville

Jon Elliston, a reporter for the Mountain Xpress, wrote a very kind article about my new book. A feature story about A Year in Asheville appeared online and in the newspaper's print edition on December 23, 2008.

Here's a snippet of what Jon wrote: "In the fall of 2007, Asheville-based writer and photographer Marty Weil set out to document a year in the life of Asheville… What to do next? Weil decided to self-publish his favorite pictures from the project in a book, A Year in Asheville, which is newly available. Featuring about 200 photos, the collection offers an unvarnished sampling of the scenes you can encounter in the city on just about any day. Soft cover and hardback editions of A Year in Asheville can be purchased online… Weil will discuss the book at Pack Memorial Library's Lord Auditorium at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 25."

I want to publicly thank Jon for his interest in the project. It's a thrill for me to receive this coverage. When I lived in Chicago--and could only dream about moving to Asheville--I would often visit the Mountain Xpress Web site to vicariously enjoy this Appalachian Shangri-La. To have my work featured in Xpress, a newspaper that I've so long admired, is truly a thrill.

To keep the buzz going, I've created a Facebook fan page for the book. Please visit and become a fan--it's free. While you're there, be sure to friend me!

“A Year in Asheville” Book Now Available

The A Year in Asheville blog has spawned a hardcover book by the same name. Recently, blurb.com published a 166-page hardcover book containing hundreds of images from the blog. The vernacular-style photographs are primarily everyday scenes shot in and around Asheville between September 29, 2007, and September 29, 2008. The book, A Year in Asheville, was created to highlight the special people and moments that typify life in the city The New York Times calls "the Appalachian Shangri-La."

You can order A Year in Asheville at http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/433375.

Hometown Ephemera – From Asheville to Your Favorite City

One of my favorite things to collect is ephemera related to my hometown of Asheville, North Carolina. When it comes to history and quirky nostalgia, it's hard to beat Asheville. For instance, the city has links to famous literary figures, such as O. Henry, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and native son, Thomas Wolfe. There is a lot of Asheville-centric ephemera floating around on all three famous American authors. Then, of course, there's the Biltmore Estate: The world-famous Vanderbilt abode has spawned loads of ephemera. There are even devotees of Biltmore Dairy ephemera, a sub-genre of Biltmore Estate collecting. Plus, there are those that only collect items related to the Grove Park Inn, Asheville's historic and grand lodge (where Barak Obama stayed recently during the campaign).

While all those are worthy of collecting, I'm a fan of the quirky stuff that Asheville throws off, such as a roommate wanted flyer found hanging in Malaprops bookstore or street ephemera like the bad advice sign I found around the neck of a parking meter. I could go on…but the point of this post isn't to showcase Asheville's rich bounty of ephemera. Rather, I'm interested in your hometown and its ephemera. I'd like to find hometown ephemera collectors, like Detroit collector Ron Radue.

Please feel free to leave a comment about your hometown ephemera collection.

Photography (Asheville in a nutshell) by zen.

A Corn Dog with Billy Graham

Although the legendary preacher, Billy Graham, 90, lives nearby in Montreat, North Carolina, his doctor's office is here in Asheville. According to a recent Charlotte Observer profile, when Graham comes to Asheville for doctor visits, he'll sometimes have lunch at TGI Friday's. He also likes the corn dogs at Sonic drive-in. (My wife, Stephanie, likes the corn dogs at Sonic drive-in, too.)

In Ashevegas, unlike Disneyland, every day is "anything can happen day." Before long, if providence proves kind, it's conceivable that we might find ourselves enjoying a corn dog with Billy Graham at the local drive-in. In Gottfried Helnwein parady of Edward Hoper's painting, Nighthawks, Marilyn Monroe, Bogart, and James Dean can be found in Hooper's late-night diner. I image my own Asheville Nightawks: Andie MacDowell, Billy Graham, and Harry Anderson enjoying corn dogs at Sonics during a midday repast.

Photograph byJeffrey Beall.