Midway Plantation, circa 1900

Raleigh native, Godfrey Cheshire, premiered his new documentary “Moving Midway” this weekend at The Rialto. Pressured by modern sprawl, the Hinton family plantation was moved in 2005 and Godfrey was inspired to film this monumental family event. He may have imagined what ghosts lied beneath but never could have foreseen the synchrony that expiates their demons.

Midway under-way, circa 2005

For me, you can hardly get more local. It was an easy stroll from my house, a short drive from my ancestral farm and a subject that continues to divide the country we live. With multi-racial presidential candidates, new books giving voice to founding mothers and a slave history married to the untenable conflict of ‘All men created equal’, I can not imagine a more timely film.

The twain shall meet

Unlike Godfrey, I am no film critic, so I will leave that to my betters but I will say, “you should see this movie!”. Regarless of your origins, yet, you seek better self-awareness through history, find the world torn by a legacy of polarization or think that it is time to call the chickens home to roost, “Moving Midway” is a movie that might rattle your skeleton’d closet.

First, a primer: SPARKcon is a festival celebrating and nurturing the local creativity of Raleigh and the Triangle region of NC. It’s 100% volunteer… everyone involved runs entirely on enthusiasm, passion and talent, with a bit of support from some wonderful sponsors! This past weekend was the third year for SPARKcon, and it showcased all sorts of talent communities, including breakdancers, yogis, craftspeople, spoken word artists, hoola hoopers, music of all kinds, art, film, fashion and more.

FashionSPARK is an outdoor runway show which featured 13 local fashion designers’ work, as well as fabulous hair and makeup by local stylists. The show was beautifully directed by Allison Beale.

fabulous hair by Jesse and Carla of Marigold Parlour, makeup also by Marigold, fashion by Domino

woodland nymph fashion by Domino

doggy designs by Montage

fashion by Lllavender, hair by Salon Blu

fashion by Metallic Spiral, styled by Marigold Parlour

fashion by Marie Cordella, styled by Atomic Salon

The SPARKcon website is in a constant state of being updated. Check it for more pictures, designer info and links.

The design of Prime Time Television is always interesting and often disturbing to me. Last night was no exception. As I went to a neighborhood friend’s house so the group of us could tune into the Democratic National Convention coverage (something we all assumed was sorta important…and assume the RNC to also be important), we quickly realized that the major networks thought differently. dunno if they’re scared of Democrats, or just scared of Bill Clinton, but no major network tuned into the DNC until 10pm, when Joe Biden’s speech began. Instead, they chose to show:

ABC: Supernanny
NBC: America’s Got Talent
CBS: Criminal Minds (rerun)
CW: Pussycat Dolls Girlicious (rerun)

Wonder what will be playing tonight…

Ron Liberti's interpretation of a film poster for DYSP

Died Young Stayed Pretty, directed by Eileen Yaghoobian, is a documentary about rock posters and their designers, some of whom are Raleigh natives, artists featured in a Designbox Rock Poster Show 5 years ago called StuckUp (Casey Burns, Ron Liberti and Dale Flattum), and one is even a Designbox alum (Dale Flattum). WOOHOO! We’re famous!

“This unique documentary examines the creative spirit that drives these indie graphic artists. They pick through the dregs of America’s schizophrenic culture and piece them back together. What you end up with is a caricature of the black and bloated heart that pulses greed through the US economy. The artists push further into the pulp to grab the attention of passersby, plastering art that’s both vulgar and intensely visceral onto the gnarled surfaces of the urban landscape.” (from the film synopsis)

The film will have it’s world premiere at the Montreal World Film Festival on August 29.

See the film site for a full description, stills and video trailer as well as more artist posters.

Asheboro, the town I grew up in, was the largest dry city in the state of North Carolina — until yesterday. Yes, after years and years of the alcohol referendums failing at the polls, people can now actually order a drink at a restaurant instead of literally brown-baggin it.

There were some who were not so happy, however. Dr. John Rogers, opposed to the referendum, said, “This outcome illustrates our war with our culture that is so saturated, particularly with alcohol.”

As for me, I say, “Cheers!”

10. WASHINGTON PARK, the Japanese Garden and the Portland Rose Garden
All three of these beautiful areas are basically in the same spot. Washington Park is a huge 400 acre park with many walking trails and beautiful views of Mt Hood and Portland as well as quiet area beneath the huge trees. The Japanese Garden is absolutely beautiful, with different areas of the gardens coming to life in different seasons. And the Rose Garden has over 6800 rose bushes representing 557 varieties – major wow!

9. SOUTH WATERFRONT PARK
Portland reclaimed it’s Willamette waterfront for the people with this waterfront park. Get great views of all of the bridges, plus a really nice walk or bike or skate along the river. On the southernmost end of the walk, there is a small marina and nice outdoor cafes to enjoy some perfect July weather.

8. PEARL DISTRICT – downtown
ok, this is cheating in my top ten, cause there’s lotsa stuff in the Pearl that you have to see. They are all in walking distance to each other, so you can make a day of it, and then be there in time for Happy Hour!
• POWELL’S BOOKS – the largest independent bookstore in the world. It’s awesome, with collections of basically everything with used and out of print mixed in with the new. You simply cannot go to Portland without visiting Powell’s.
• Museum of Contemporary Craft – they had a great show while we were there. The gift store is impressive too, lots beautiful of glass, pottery and jewelry.
• Tanner Springs Park and Jamison Square – I mentioned these parks in an earlier post. Tanner Springs is a beautiful small natural area, very well done, and Jamison Park is a fun urban kids play fountain

7. a tie for VENDETTA and Rontom’s-
Vendetta = hip yet casual drinks and snacks hangout – great patio!
Rontom’s = mid-century mecca yet casual drinks and snacks hangout – get the Mojito with Cilantro in it – yum!

6. MISSISSIPPI AVE ARTS DISTRICT – see a buncha cool art on “Last Thursdays,” go to the BLACK WAGON for some hipper than thou baby stuff (and cool art), step across the street and have a martini to some cool grooves at Moloko Plus (used to be Mississippi Avenue Social Club), or grab a beer in a much more casual spot, complete with a veggie brat at Amnesia Brewing. And if you are there in July, you can’t miss the Mississippi Ave Street Fair! It puts those cute little town arts fairs to shame.

5. HAWTHORNE DISTRICT - go ahead and get your Stumptown Coffee on Belmont or Fresh Pot coffee on Hawthorne, then peruse the street for all of it’s awesome vintage shops, especially, House of Vintage, check out the Bagdad Theater and Pub, and enjoy all kinds of delicious small restaurants and pubs.

4. Broder – gotta go for brunch – Swedish food, whatever that means. All I know is that for brunch I got this awesome baked scramble in its own teeny tiny iron skillet – so cute – and great! It’s a tiny cute little spot…don’t forget to order the adorable Danish pancakes.

3. Alibi Restaurant and Lounge – totally authentic Tiki – LOVE IT – the cocktails are great and decorated with paper umbrellas, and there is Karaoke every night. One of my most memorable places to visit in Portland.

2. SATURDAY FARMER’S MARKET – If you’re in Portland on a Saturday, you just gotta go. Local. Delicious. Fun. Music. etc. See an earlier post for a larger description.

1. NAVARRE – Portland’s full of great eats and drinks. Navarre is at the top of the list. Navarre is a small place which truly changes it’s menu based on what they received from a local farmer. Everything feels as if it was cooked for you, served casually, family style, and desserts and wines are chosen specifically to pair with the food. this is a great date night, gathering of friends or casual night out for treats. Deelish. (we did a full write-up on Navarre last year. see it here.)

Other fun places:
mod shopping: Hive Modern, Relish, Canoe
chains but worth seeing Portland Style: Whole Foods Portland, DWR Showroom, West Elm, Horny Toad’s Lizard Lounge
other awesome eats: Bay 13 (seafood), Silk (vietnamese), Pok Pok (thai), Beast (euro-portland),
Voodoo Doughnuts, Hotlips Pizza (and homemade fruit soda!), Burgerville

Check Portland Octopus out for a lot of great Portland info.

Sunday, July 20, 2008, a show opened at the Museum of Modern Art that looks to be both interesting and thorough about the challenges architects have faced selling the idea of prefabricated houses. The show encompasses a timeline, beginning in the 1800’s with factory-produced buildings. It then spans the next 200 years, showing how the idea of prefabricated housing returned with each new architectural movement and yet, has continuously struggled to find solid footing.

The show not only encompasses historical stories, plans and pictures, but an array of models, including a walk-in model in the exhibition space. The finale is 5 fully built homes on the 54th street lot of MoMa. The pictures look completely surreal, with these 5 homes right in the middle of the skyscrapers of Manhattan.

Check out the MoMa site for a complete journal of the show, including pictures and a video of the installation process: www.momahomedelivery.org

The NY Times also has a good review of the show, including a slide show.

cool.

Last month (June 6), Endless Grind and FM Goods of Raleigh had a collaborative show and benefit called “Drawing Blanks.” A bunch of blank skateboard decks were painted by local artists, and then they were all silent auctioned on the First Friday in June. The auction benefitted The Disabled American Veterans of NC.

The show was great and packed! but the audience was more into the scene than owning any of the decks. Lucky for me, cause I scored these 3 Paul Friedrich cowboys for a nice price! Picked ‘em up today and just had to share.