Stay edgy, Xpress

Upon my customary Wednesday-afternoon perusal of the Mountain Xpress, it was with surprise that I noticed [on May 6] the absence of Anne Fitten Glenn’s Edgy Mama column. As an unmarried, childless male, I am perhaps not representative of the column’s target demographic, but I read it regularly for Ms. Glenn’s nuanced writing and incisive […]

Council’s job is making decisions

On May 12, Council member Brownie Newman said he liked the Master Plan because it would give appointed boards more power to approve downtown-development projects. “I’ve always been supportive of the idea of delegating more of these decisions to the Planning & Zoning Commission and other bodies,” he said. Council member Robin Cape agreed with […]

Small Bites

Square 1 Market: Joseph and Lindsay Lewis, who’ve been on a one-couple crusade to bring locavorism to Hendersonville, are planning to expand their reach this week with the brand new Square 1 Market. The cozy market, which will be carved out of Square 1 Bistro’s storefront kitchen, will retail fresh produce and cheeses currently unavailable […]

The Gospel According to Jerry

I suffer from the same senior malady as most of my peers in that I can’t remember what I had for breakfast or where I left my cell phone, but I am blessed with an uncanny recall of things that happened when I was a very small child. Given the present economic situation, I thought […]

The long road toward harmony

When I was someone else’s employee, co-workers and I would often hold gleefully scathing discussions over cigarettes in the alley behind the business where we worked. We mostly focused on what stupid decisions the boss was making and how clear it was that we would make much better ones while being a lot more generous […]

Put some spring in your step

On Saturday, April 25, I gathered with a cluster of good-looking, well-toned and intelligent runners for the annual Mainstay Mountain Medley 10-miler at Green Cove (just south of Hendersonville). The race was everything one hopes for: well-organized, scenic and supportive of a worthy cause. And so I am left with one question, post-event: Where were […]

SoundTrack

Humble Thumb, the fragmented version of The Brothels from Knoxville and Asheville, recently opened for Buffalo at Fred’s Speakeasy. The small crowd—surprisingly quiet for a Saturday night—finally hit its enthusiastic stride when Buffalo took the stage with a young but mature approach to old-time roots, country, and bluegrass. Buffalo at Fred’s Speakeasy. Photo by Lydia […]

Bar Beat: Nova

Nova bartender Justin Crawford goes down the ranks of silver shakers like a field marshal, taking a moment to eyeball a cocktail ingredient before adding it to the mix. Cocktail culture, one drink at a time: A golden cucumber fizz, a mix of classic cocktail and current innovation, sits atop the bar at Nova, while […]

Leadership Asheville and The New Agenda

For close to three decades, Leadership Asheville’s acclaimed program has built a strong tradition of leadership development and community involvement. Utilizing lectures, discussions, work groups and service projects, the participants explore a variety of topics, ranging from the environment to education to local government to economic development. The class graduating May 20 has had the […]

Weekly Reeler: Movie Talk for May 20-26

Some of you might remember Joe Chang’s film Neutral, which debuted in Asheville back in the fall of 2007. For a local work, it was unusual, in that Joe insisted on shooting the film on 35mm—something that gave it a visual richness not often seen in such productions. Neutral was—and is—also one of the very few Asheville-based films that attempts to capture something of the sense of the city itself, which is perhaps why it struck me as an “existential drama.”