Oh, the places you’ll go: Few regional outdoor groups boast as robust a schedule as the Carolina Mountain Club. Pick a weekend, and members are somewhere burning – or at least treading – up the trails. This month, for instance, a Dec. 17 all-day hike led by Joanne Tulip will take in Green Knob by … Read more
Click here to download A Jam-Mas Carol Cartoon (788K) The Jam to end all Jams Warren Haynes presents the 18th Annual Christmas Jam at the Asheville Civic Center on Saturday, Dec. 16, at 7 p.m. This year’s performers include: Dave Matthews, Gov’t Mule, The John Popper Project featuring DJ Logic, New Orleans Social Club, Taj … Read more
Flute-funk trio Peace Jones perform at the Traveling Bonfires’ Christmas Community Convergence. If the strains of carols wheezing from mall speakers have gone from tinkling to groaning, filling your ears with an Edgar Allan Poe brand of madness, you might beat a frosty path to Westgate Shopping Center this Friday for the “Christmas Community Convergence.” … Read more
About every other month, it seems, I hear from a nonprofit that wants someone to represent the Latino community on their board. That’s all well and good, but first, those board members need to ask themselves this question: “Are we really ready and willing to welcome and be receptive to the Latino community and its … Read more
Protecting children from sexual abuse After reading [your] coverage of Asheville City Council’s Nov. 21 work session [“Just the Facts,” Nov. 29], I’m grateful that light is being shed on the issue of child pornography. However, child pornography, including the estimated 100,000 child-porn Web sites, is part of a much bigger problem: the sexual abuse … Read more
Sure, we can all go on about how materialistic the American holiday season has become, how it should be about family and counting our blessings and other Norman Rockwell conceits, and “No thanks, save the money you’d spend on those 800-thread-count sheets you were planning on buying me and use it to airlift the people … Read more
Sweater Set On one hand, sweaters add an extra layer of warmth. They can be cozy, like a wearable blanket. They can be sexy (Lana Turner in They Won’t Forget) or classic (a twin set and pearls worn Jackie O. style). On the other hand, sweaters can be bulky, lumpy and itchy (see the atrocities … Read more
According to wiener taxonomists, there are no fewer than two dozen regional variations on the snack, from northeastern Massachusetts’ boiled Frankfurt rolls to Seattle’s cream-cheese-wearing dogs. In the 150 years since an entrepreneurial German-American (historians debate over whether to credit Charles Feltman of Brooklyn or Antonoine Feuchtwanger of St. Louis as inventor of the nation’s … Read more
Mackensy Lunsford is sitting on a barstool at the Usual Suspects in Asheville, a fan-like set of paper paint-color samples in her hands. “I’m so excited,” exclaims the woman who has written Mountain Xpress‘s food reviews for the past year and a half. “Look at this one,” she says, pointing out the color she’ll be … Read more
Flavor: Upscale AppalachianAmbiance: Rustic warmth in unlikely strip mall location I am not the target audience for Blackwater Grille in Laurel Park. Most folks in this upscale speck of a town, which bumps up against the western edge of Hendersonville, are retirees – according to the most-recent census data, the median age here is 58.6. … Read more
