Video a-go-go

In case you hadn’t yet noticed, it’s kind of nice outside. In the off chance you’re only now realizing just how much pleasant weather you’ve missed, or in the event you’re not capable of appreciating something unless it’s on the Internet, here’s a time-lapse video of springtime in downtown Asheville.

 

We all know that drinking a nice, cool local brew is a great way to spend a warm spring day in Asheville. But does it work just as well in, say, Atlanta? VideoBeerReviews puts this question to the test, trying out Highland Brewing Company’s Kashmir IPA on a stunning day in the Peach State. And he even drinks it from a Barley’s Taproom glass.

 

What good is a tasty local beer without something to nibble on while you’re knocking it back? It doesn’t even have to be typical bar food, either. Why, if you know what you’re doing, you can even grab a quick snack right out of the ground. Don’t believe me? I don’t blame you, as I’m clearly not an expert. But Marc Williams is. He’s an ethnobotanist who really wants to tell you about a wild mustard plant he found at Pearson Gardens in Montford.

 

There’s a perennial springtime tradition in Asheville, and now that it’s warming up a bit, it’s definitely worth revisiting. I’m talking, of course, about the downtown drum circle. It’s becoming prime djembe-thumping season, and thanks to YouTube user Jeffrey Douglas DeCristofaro, we can enjoy it in a pollen-free setting.

 

As with the drumming, it should be of little surprise that all of this stunning weather has brought many performers outdoors. And when it comes to local buskers, they’ve come out in force. And as luck would have it, DeCristofaro also managed to catch a performance by one of the city’s more unusual busking acts. One of the living statues, you say? No. The guy who juggles flaming batons atop a unicycle? No … Sorry. I really should have been more specific. I’m talking about sidewalk hula-hooping.

 

Speaking of buskers, here’s Asheville-based acoustic roots-rockers Baby Cowboy, performing a couple of tunes near Pritchard Park. To think that only a few years ago, these performances might have been caught by a few dozen people who happened to be there at the moment it was happening, but thanks to inexpensive video cameras and video sharing, even a humble streetside performance can be preserved.

 

Each week, dozens upon dozens of interesting local videos are uploaded to YouTube. It’s a lot to keep up with. Did we miss a particularly interesting, recently uploaded local video? Share it by leaving the videos URL (but not the embed code) in the comment fields below. Also, please mark it Not Work Safe if there’s any controversial content to the video.

 

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