Take this simple New Year’s Quiz to figure out what show to check out this week. 1. Your relationship with New Year’s resolutions can best be described as: a. inspirational: observing your life’s path often prompts others to make drastic changes. b. pretty negligible; you’re constantly tweaking your life year-round to be the most awesome … Read more
Yes, Christmas Day has come and gone. Unless you're counting the 12 days of Christmas. Or, if you're a literary type and are celebrating Dickensian-style, which can extend well before or past actual Christmas. Blue Ridge Bookfest prolongs the holiday season with Christmas with Dickens: A Victorian Dinner with Entertainment. The idea for an evening … Read more
What I’d like to see in Asheville is people's views open on what sex-positive culture really is. Our town is liberal, but like any well-mannered Southern town, it’s still skeptical in its openness to sexuality — and fairly new to it. With the dawn of places like the Tantra School in West Asheville and the … Read more
Big news from late 2011: Local kid-hop artist Secret Agent 23 Skidoo learned that he's featured on a Grammy-nominated album. And while that doesn't mean that Skidoo will take home a statuette should that album win, the nod "will look nice on my website, and may perk up some ears when we push Make Believers … Read more
I would like to see the city move its money from Wall Street banks to local financial institutions. I advanced this idea two years ago but didn't get much traction. I'm hoping that the changing mood of the nation will encourage other Council members to support this idea now. Banking locally has the same multiplier … Read more
I'd like to preface this by saying that I believe graffiti is a beautiful form of expression and art. Since its American inception in Philadelphia back in the ‘60s, it has proven to be such. However, seeing the words "Valet" and "Moms" and other silly self-interested scribble around town to me is not creative and … Read more
If you've been to a downtown festival, chances are you've seen Asheville on Bikes in action. The local cycling advocacy group's most public face remains its regular "bike corrals," which offer free and secure bicycle parking at a variety of local events, from Downtown After 5 to LAAFF and Bele Chere. The organization also hosts … Read more
There are several things bubbling around. I think this should be the year that we have a downtown management system in place. This was part of the Downtown Master Plan from 2009, and it was first considered for downtown back in 1993. I'm hopeful that we can get it accomplished without hitting the three-decade mark. … Read more
I've been noticing a lot of state police “scarecrows” along the interstate lately. Some senior member of the North Carolina Highway Patrol has apparently deemed it a good strategy to park unattended police cruisers along the highway in order to make citizens think they're being monitored by law enforcement. This is wrong on so many … Read more
Asheville’s favorite women’s flat track roller derby team is preparing for an apocalyptic 2012 season. We will continue to empower young girls and women in Western North Carolina by demonstrating that women of all sizes, shapes and backgrounds can play a highly competitive, hard-hitting sport with style, grace and excellent sportswomanship. We will bring the … Read more
