One Way to a Dead End
(photograph taken on Broad Street in Carrboro)
Carrboro: Tough Cookies
In first place...the classic chocolatey Thin Mints which debuted in the 1950s. Followed a close second by Caramel deLites, originally introduced to us as the beloved Samoas in 1975. The young entrepreneurs set up shop outside Neal's Deli in Carrboro and flagged down cars with handmade signs. Girl Scout Cookies are typically for sale this time of year for a six-to eight-week run. Godspeed through the drizzle and dipping temperatures!
(photographs taken on N. Greensboro Street near Main Street in Carrboro)
Epilogue to Analog Film: Digital Triumph
Hats off to the Varsity Theatre and those who contributed to its digital campaign. Looks like the beacon will be burning bright on Franklin Street after all. The historic Chapel Hill landmark launched a $50,000 community campaign to raise money to purchase equipment to transform one of its theaters into a digital screen from the classic -- to some, soothing sounds of -- clicking film reels. Now on overdrive, the additional contributions will be applied towards converting its second screen.The above image is of a film short shown prior to a feature film at the Varsity.
(photographs taken on Franklin Street between Columbia and Henderson streets.)
The Varsity: Go Digital or Go Dark
The Varsity could have an alternate ending. The landmark Chapel Hill movie theater with the vintage vibe and glowing marquee is receiving pressure from technology to go digital or go dark. Over the past few years, motion picture studios have started distributing movies strictly as digital prints stored on hard drives, rather than film on reels. Economics has fueled the shift. The cost of releasing one film reel is equivalent to about 15 digital copies. While cost effective for studios, independent theaters are forced to shut down given the major hurdle to purchase a digital machine -- upwards of $100,000.
Built in 1927, the Franklin Street theater is one of the oldest in North Carolina. Though ownership and names have shifted -- starting with the original Carolina Theater, followed by the Village Theater before becoming the Varsity -- the Sorrell building has always housed a movie theater. In 2009, Paul and Susan Shareshian renovated the Varsity to offer affordable entertainment (movie tickets are $4) and a space for community events (local film premieres, fundraisers).
The duo is determined to raise enough money to convert one of the two screens to digital and stay alight. They have launched a Kickstarter fundraising campaign to raise $50,000. So far, they are half way there. The campaign ends in February 2015. To donate and sign up for updates: VarsityGoesDigital.com. To catch what's playing: VarsityonFranklin.com.
Keep the beacon aglow on Franklin Street.
(photographs taken on Franklin Street between Columbia & Henderson streets in Chapel Hill)
Chapel Hill-Carrboro Holiday Parade: Four Legs
(photographs taken on the corner of Franklin & Columbia streets in Chapel Hill)
Chapel Hill-Carrboro Holiday Parade: The People
(photographs taken on the corner of Franklin & Columbia streets in Chapel Hill)
Holiday Webbing
Much like circus tents, these lights form the crux of temporary holiday tree shops peppered throughout town evoking images of spider webs dotted with eggs, carnival rides, or firework streamers.
(photograph taken off of Highway 54 in Chapel Hill)
Chapel Hill: Pining for the Perfect Tree
A plethora of makeshift Christmas tree shops have sprung up around town. Box stores: Food Lion & Lowes. Local concern: farmer's markets and churches. North Carolina farm tents: Cranberry Farms. Some prefer the freshest tree or the best price. Others like to support the state farms. But while on your pine tree pursuit consider Holiday Trees by TROSA (Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers). The local organization offers those on the path to sobriety a boost to rebuild their lives through vocational training, education, and job opportunities like those who work the TROSA pop-up tree shops throughout town. They are happy to drag out and unfurl tree after tree until you find the right one. Or take pictures of your brood posing against the tree-topped sedan with the 8-foot beauty you hope will not tumble off on the ride home.
(photograph taken at Rams Plaza in Chapel Hill)
Chapel Hill: Baby You Can Drive My Car
(photograph taken in the parking lot of The Shops at Eastgate in Chapel Hill)
Chapel Hill Daybreak: The Morning Moon
“Yeah we all shine on, like the moon, and the stars and the sun. ”
Melding the Creepy & the Political to Make a Point
Halloween occurs four days before elections. These Carrboro folks express political views using the eve of All Saints' Day as a backdrop. Nonetheless, a billboard reminding us to vote.
(photograph taken near Hillsborough Street in Carrboro)
Harbinger of Halloween: Haunting on the Hill
(photographs taken present day -- 10/2014 -- in Chapel Hill and Carrboro)
Carrboro: Empty Bowls, Full Bellies
Choose a deep one with a protruding green rim. Or perhaps a cobalt blue offset by cerulean insides. If you're adventurous, opt for the one with scalloped stripes and peppered polka dots.
Local handmade pottery was the centerpiece in TABLE's Second Annual Empty Bowls fundraiser Sunday which was hosted by its neighbor, Provence restaurant in Carrboro. A $30 ticket bought you a one-of-a-kind bowl and steaming soup while supporting the organization's emergency food aid programs for hungry children in Carrboro and Chapel Hill. The event poured over onto TABLE's front lawn which doubled as an outdoor dining space with live porch music.
(photographs taken on Weaver Street in Carrboro)
Carrboro: Double Take
“Toleration is the greatest gift of the mind; it requires the same effort of the brain that it takes to balance oneself on a bicycle.”
(photograph taken off of Main Street in Carrboro)
Stand the Test of Time
Despite scars scored down its side, the nearly century-old willow oak in Carrboro stands tall. Two years ago, the landmark that canopies Weaver Street Market's lawn and provides a backdrop for concerts and community gatherings was struck by lighting tossing bark against the windows of the market. The town feared losing the tree to wounds or disease. Arborists were called to test its viability. Happily, the tree endures.
(photograph taken at Weaver Street Market in Carrboro)
Draw Fire
In these images, firework light trails appear to bounce off the night sky forming shapes in streaks of color. This effect occurs at a slow camera shutter speed enabling a photographer to paint with light.
The fireworks seen here illuminated the sky over Governors Club in Chapel Hill on Friday evening. The display was originally scheduled for Independence Day, but due to inclement weather was postponed until August.
(photographs taken near Governors Club in Chapel Hill)
Around Town: Free Carrboro
Because there is too such thing as a free lunch! - Carrboro's Really Really Free Market
Carrboro celebrates its 10th Annual Really Really Free Market Festival on Saturday, October 4th in the Town Commons. Besides the bounty of freebies, the day-long event will showcase live bands, puppeteers, workshops, a DJ, games and installations. Also, The Recyclery will be tuning up and restoring bicycles to give away. For updates check out reallyfreecarrboro.info
For folks who have yet to attend a Really Really Free Market event, it's true, nothing is for sale. Folks congregate ready to give away a rainbow of goods (groceries, furniture, prepared foods, music, tires, clothing) and skills/services (auto repair, carpentry and haircuts). The events begin at 2 p.m. the first Saturday of each month at the Carrboro Town Commons.
It's worth the visit.
(photograph taken at Carrboro Town Commons)
Along for the Ride
Spotted this British beauty on UNC's campus this week. The Carolina blue Morris Motors vehicle in pristine shape was on view and in tow in a lot near the Carolina Inn. Morris Motor Company was a British car manufacturing company that was subsequently incorporated into larger corporations. The Morris brand name remained until 1984 when British Leyland’s Austin Rover Group shifted its focus to the popular Austin brand.
Railroad stations often used these vehicles for luggage and petty shipments, hence the name "station wagon." Typically those with wood trim in the rear portion of the car were referred to as a "woodie." In the 1960s & 1970s, California surfers were drawn to Morris vehicles because they were cheap and could cram a bunch of people and surfboards making the "woodie" the vehicle most commonly associated with a surfer.
(photograph taken near West Cameron Avenue & Ransom Street in Chapel Hill)
Looking Up at the Lumina Theatre
Feel like someone's watching as you enter the Lumina Theatre in Southern Village? Turns out the silhouette of the dapper couple perched atop the theater's neon sign is not original art as some might have suspected. The couple and the other two vignettes are prefab sculptures added several years ago to add charm to the village, according to Southern Village Bryan Properties management. The Lumina Theatre opened in 2000 in the town center of Southern Village, which has been dubbed "the new old town" and lauded for its new urbanism design.
(photographs taken at the Lumina Theatre in Southern Village in Chapel Hill)
A Peek into Mailbox No.147
Vintage mailboxes are still in operation at the Chapel Hill downtown branch of the United States Post Office. A look inside mailbox number 147 reveals an active manual postal system. Small P.O. boxes (as shown) rent for $31 for six months. The post office building, which also houses the courthouse and teen center, is located on 179 East Franklin Street.
(photographs taken at U.S. Post Office, downtown Chapel Hill branch on Franklin Street)