Blog Alert: The big blog round-Up

Warm weather may be great for growing some things, but it’s like plant-poison for blogs. Thankfully, the Asheville blogosphere still has a few dedicated souls willing to put their innermost thoughts out on the internet for all to see. So, in the event you’ve opted for walks in the sunshine over a darkened room with a glowing computer screen, we present this week’s blog highlights.

Ashvegas: Everyone’s favorite WLOS hater has remounted his favorite hobby-horse, taking the “WLOSers” to task about pretty much everything they cover. That said, ol’ Ash seems to have lost a little of his vitriol for the Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned ABC affiliate, and his tone is increasingly one of bitter resignation. Will we ever get the old Ashvegas bite back? Here’s a sample

“U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler stopped by the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department to say he was fighting for more federal funding to put more cops on the streets. Holly Headache, who seems to have taken more of the lead stories at 6, did the boring report.” Click here for more.

The Hangover Journals: The last time we checked in on Felicity, she as being forced to relocate to a new house and her dog had eaten most of her good underwear. Well, we’re happy to report that, although her dog is still eating pretty much everything it can get it’s muzzle on, (“2 pairs of shoes, … 1 pillow … 1 entire spindle of blank DVDs … 1 small wooden box of rocks and crystals and, inexplicably, magnetic poetry … 1 gourd bowl, perhaps my favorite gourd bowl that I ever made, that was up on a shelf”) she’s moved into a new place. Not that everything is perfect, mind you.

“Yesterday, I collapsed. I did nothing whatsoever on the new house—except sleep in it, heavily, and eat dinner—and then I took this one photo, which shows the beginnings of the funkifying process of the front yard, so that eventually it will be chock a block with odd stuff and flowers and flags and so on, so that small children are frightened and delighted and the neighborhood association sighs great mighty sighs of despair. Or so one hopes.” Click here for more.

Brainshrub: If there’s one local blog that brings big social, political and economic issues down to street level, it’s Brainshrub.com’s Paul Van Heden (or simply “Paul -V-”). Recently, Van Heden decided to bring a little perspective to the eternally touchy issue of the homelessness in downtown Asheville. Here’s a sample:

“This morning I spotted a homeless man in a wheelchair, doubled over in pain, throwing up into a gutter in front of a boutique store on Haywood Road. A block further, on Lexington Avenue, a woman threw a half-eaten bagel into a trash can; not ten seconds passed before two homeless men started scuffling over who was going to eat it. A quarter-mile west of these pathetic scenes, there is a homeless shelter and soup kitchen. So the obvious questions are: Why weren’t these people at the shelter? Why don’t they improve their lives when there are charities available to help? I have a theory …” Read on for more.

BlogAsheville: And while local blog nexus BlogAsheville is running a little light on the updates these days, if you’re interested in reading what other netizens have to say, there’s no place better. Check out their blogroll for a quick list.

Know of a great local blog we missed? Paste the URL in the comment field below, and tell us a little about why it’s so awesome.

— Steve Shanafelt