This week: a salute to local brews, a comedic road trip, secret garbage-truck footage, Asheville Aerial Arts, “wangstas” and more …
Year: 2009
Showing 1051-1071 of 2958 results
Neon signs
The Chucks, the leopard print, the neon accents… if it weren’t for the late-model vehicles, I’d swear this was the 80s.
Cranky Hanke’s Screening Room: Changing Tastes
We’ve all had moments in our lives (at least I hope we have) when something or possibly someone we once regarded very highly suddenly doesn’t “do it” for us. And if we’re lucky we might have the reverse experience where something that didn’t work suddenly does.
Watch for next week’s Harvest Records giveaways!
Early next week, keep your browser windows open to mountainx.com cause we’re gonna be giving away tickets to each Transfigurations show. Yay!
Murder charge dropped in cyclist shooting case
A grand jury has dropped the charge of attempted first-degree murder against Charles Alexander Diez, the Asheville firefighter accused of shooting a cyclist. Diez is now facing a felony assault charge that carries a much lower potential penalty.
Appalachian history buffs and music lovers, don’t miss this one
Catch the last weekend of the world premiere musical documentary Esley: The Life and Musical Legacy of Leslie Riddle. Riddle was an African-American Burnsville native who traveled with A.P. Carter of the Carter Family, searching out traditional mountain music and digging the roots of country music.
This weekend on a shoestring
This seems to be the weekend for small, homegrown festivals. The sort where you take the kids and a cooler (check on the rules first; some of these festivals don’t allow cervezas) and ease into a lawn chair along Main Street somewhere.
Nurturing dreams
If it weren't for Mountain BizWorks, Monte's Sub Shop co-owner Daniel Ruiz says he wouldn't be in business today. That's a sentiment shared by many of the 3,000-plus alumni who've received loans, taken courses, attended workshops and received technical assistance through the organization since its founding, 20 years ago, as the Mountain Microenterprise Fund. Riding […]
Bob Barker, PETA protest treatment of Cherokee bears
Former game-show host Bob Barker, known far and wide for uttering the line "C'mon down" to contestants on The Price is Right, says that's exactly what tourists won't be doing in Western North Carolina as word continues to spread about what he and fellow animal-rights activists see as inhumane treatment of bears on the reservation […]
Accused gunman released on bond, cycling community outraged
The release of Asheville firefighter Charles Alexander Diez, charged with shooting cyclist Alan Simons July 26, has the local cycling community "outraged," according to one leader. Facing charges of attempted first-degree murder, Diez was let out on bond. Around midday on July 26, police say, Diez angrily confronted Simons, who was riding along Tunnel Road […]
Johnson resigns as Buncombe GOP chair
Buncombe County Republican Party Chair Tim Johnson, who was recently elected vice chair of the state party, stepped down from his local leadership post July 31, with county Vice Chair Robert Malt taking over as local chair. Stepping up, stepping down: Buncombe County Republican Party Chair Tim Johnson resigned July 31 to move to Durham, […]
The Green Scene
You've probably never heard of the Appalachian elktoe mussel, but some local folks have — and they're trying to help the little mollusk survive. On the North Toe River just downstream from Spruce Pine, crews have removed the remnants of an old dam, hoping to re-establish the fish populations the endangered species depends on. The […]
Exotic Appalachia
Even these days, when electric guitars and keyboards rule and mountain music is the stuff of Smithsonian recordings and PBS specials, a banjo player is easy enough to find. Asheville writer Gene Senyak recently published Banjo Camp!, Tyler Ramsey picked his way through a Band of Horses song, and Shindig on the Green — now […]
Spork
So this week the section is pretty man-heavy. We always try for a balance of genres and venues, but this week's A&E dudeness was striking — one of those things you don't necessarily notice until you're turning your photos in to the designer, and they're all dudes, standing, sitting, rocking, whatever. Oh yeah, and one […]
Still out doing what they do
Listen to the interview here! Twenty years (!) after the release of its debut, the clever and eclectic 3 Feet High and Rising, hip-hop trio De La Soul prove they're still relevant with a new release on iTunes and an album planned for later this year. Xpress talked to band member Posdnuos about the forefathers […]
Market economics
While local-food advocates have conditioned eaters to “buy local,” they haven’t yet persuaded them to “splurge local.” Market insiders, who admit they still haven’t fully deciphered consumer behavior, fret that tailgate markets’ hard-earned reputation as friendly meet-and-greet spots flush with local color may ultimately spell trouble for their commercial success.
Outdoors
Gary Eblen calls himself a gateway drug to the outdoors. "I take people on walks, then they get excited and want to do more walks, then we start doing hikes," says Eblen, community outreach director for Diamond Brand Outdoors. The company has been in Western North Carolina since 1943, but its outfitter tradition stretches back […]
The Dirt
When I was 25 years old, I lost a boyfriend but gained a lifelong passion. As Karel Capek writes in the essay "How a Man Becomes a Gardener," "From such beginnings the gardener yields more and more to this newly awakened passion, which is nourished by repeated success and spurred on by each new failure; […]
Keep government out of URTV
Keep government out of URTV Just a question here, folks. What in the world are the city of Asheville and Buncombe County doing authorizing funding for URTV in the first place? If URTV is funded by special charges on Charter Cable TV bills, it seems to me that 1) Charter would have more say about […]
Bele Chere felt safer
Last year, I submitted a letter about the protesters in Pritchard Park during Bele Chere — about how I and many festival-goers felt unsafe due to the lack of control over the crowd. I was very pleased to see how the city handled things this year. I don't feel as if we should infringe on […]
Where Bele Chere missed the boat
I am a new resident to Asheville, and the 2009 Bele Chere was my first of many to come. To the organizers, I thank you for putting on a great festival with amazing musical performances. Although I thoroughly enjoyed this year's event, I was a little disappointed with a few aspects. I have come to […]