photo by Cecil Bothwell Predictions of fall color are all well and good — sometimes even accurate. After all, as William Cowper put it more than 200 Octobers ago, “A fool must now and then be right by chance.” Then too, in these mountains one can go up or down slope several hundred feet and … Read more
Redefining trad music: Lunasa Piper Cillian Vallely is sooo over Celt-rock. “Irish music: It’s not like mainstream music,” asserts Cillian Vallely, piper for Irish acoustic supergroup Lunasa. “You don’t get popular overnight. You also don’t fade out overnight.” He’s not talking about pop acts like The Corrs and the Cranberries (both of which have faded), … Read more
A vision for a viewshed In response to public concerns about proposed logging in Pisgah National Forest’s Grandfather Ranger District, just south of Blowing Rock, the U.S. Forest Service is developing an additional alternative to decrease the visual impact. “What we’re trying to do is listen carefully to people’s concerns, continue to do additional analysis … Read more
Highs & lows • Who she is: Aubrey Adams • What she’s wearing: A black-and-white striped top, black dress from the HoneyPot, knee socks with zippers from the Costume Shoppe, and Converse high-tops • Her style: “I make a lot of my own clothes,” Aubrey explains. “But when I shop, I mainly go to MakeMe … Read more
National taste-master Sara Moulton will visit the WNC Farmer’s Market this Friday, Oct. 20, at 11 a.m. Moulton is the host of the Food Network’s Sara’s Secrets, executive chef at Gourmet magazine, food editor for ABC’s Good Morning America and the author of several popular cookbooks. At the market, she’ll discuss “the beauty of fall … Read more
photo by Hanna Rachel Raskin The prettiest words in the Spanish language are “dos con todos.” Cervantes fans may protest, but the venerated author never wrote a phrase that could be so easily exchanged for gustatory enlightenment. I added the words to my gringo vocabulary – startlingly limited despite spending a few semesters in junior … Read more
We Invented The Awards Banquet There is a thin line between honest self-promotion and outright commercial hubris. After all, no one really seemed to care all that much when P. Diddy and The Bad Boy Family claimed We Invented The Remix that, in fact, they hadn’t. Why is it, then, that it seems a little … Read more
Rock resurrection: A revamped Kerouac or the Radio are back from the dead. When asked to name the most important thing he’d learned about rock ‘n’ roll, Pere Ubu front man David Thomas once quipped, “Rock music is mostly about moving big black boxes from one side of town to the other in the back … Read more
Bunt pan bombshell: Amy Sedaris reinstates pantyhose, theme parties and DIY etiquette. “Buy organic lemons, if for no other reason than because the puckered tips make great nipples to stuff in your bra.” So goes the sometimes enlightening, sometimes just plain weird I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence (Warner Books, 2006) by comedian Amy … Read more
