GObama in Asheville!

I'm taking a brief detour from posting updates on classes, student work and my own work to chronicle a little historic event that happened in our corner of the world. Barack Obama is in town, prepping for Tuesday's debate, and they threw together a rally today that seemed to hold the entire town, although reports are it was about 28,000 folks. It was a beautiful day, and even though my friend Holly and I went down several hours before the doors opened (which was two hours before the event), the line was already wrapped around the high school and into the adjoining parking lot. Thankfully, the event started almost on time, as we ended up on the football field in intimate quarters with several thousand other Obamaniacs. He talked healthcare and the economy, and it was good. I think most people I know are covered on this, but make sure you're registered and make sure you vote! If you can vote early, do that then help get others to the polls - no matter what your preference is in this election, it's time people started taking responsibility where they can, and voting is more than a big part of it.

And now for the photo album...

I lost all of my 'one-armed' photos in my computer crash of aught-7, so I had to start them up again. Holly and I teamed up for a nice walk on a gorgeous day to get to the stadium.

Crowds are always fun to watch, and Asheville crowds even moreso. This mom turned just as I was taking the picture, but if you click on it you can see it bigger - the baby has a mohawk, and Obama is written on the other side of his head.


These folks were just ahead of us in line, and unfortunately nobody was allowed to take in their own signs (although of course the pre-made signs were being handed out inside) so she had to ditch this before she got in.

When we got there, we had to follow a long line to find the end, but within about 30 minutes, this was the line behind us. About another 30 minutes later we started to move, and as we crested the top of the parking lot, people were jumping out of line to run and take pictures like it was a scenic outlook on the parkway:

'nuff said...


Once in, we ended up on about the fifty yard line, with the stage in one of the end zones. It would have been nice if the stage, or at least the podium, had been a bit higher, but I knew being that close I'd get SOME pictures if I raised the camera. For the most part, however, my direct view was this:

'nuff said, jr.


Being an old stage manager, I always get a kick out of the production values of live events. If you enlarge the picture, you can see the big blue curtain erected at the top of the hill, next to the bus. Between 2-2:30, as the crowd got warmer and more anxious, every little ripple of the curtain sent out a wave of psych-out applause.

This was the actual walk-in, and while I didn't expect to get the guest of honor in the shot, I thought the array of cameras, cell phones and blackberrys, blurred in the excitement of trying to take a picture and applaud and cheer, was also interesting.


For the most part, it was heads in front of me, but for a brief moment the sea parted and I had a direct shot...only to be thwarted by..
the teleprompter! Cursed again by technology!


ok, so I did get another shot!

Oh, and if you want to support Obama and get some cool pottery, check out Ayumi Horie's online show/fundraiser - the preview goes up on her site on October 13, and some wickedly talented potters are participating - check it out on her website.

peace.