Funny Business Comedy Club - Asheville Update

This week I visited the Funny Business Comedy Club in Downtown Asheville at 56 Patton Avenue for an interview with co-owner Charlie Gerencer and general manager Eric Yoder. After the interview I returned in the evening for the first of 2 nights of local comedy at the first Local Comedy Showcase.

The video includes footage of Michael Channing of Asheville NC, April Body of Atlanta GA, and Michael Roach of Asheville NC.

Thanks for watching...

View the original post on Ashevlle Now...

Great Blue Ridge Talent Search starts today

From an email:

White Horse Black Mountain to Host THE GREAT BLUE RIDGE TALENT SEARCH for singers

starts Jan 28, 2008!

WHAT: The Great Blue Ridge Talent Search Vocal Competition at White Horse Black Mountain

WHERE: White Horse Black Mountain

www.whitehorseblackmountain.com

105C Montreat Road

Black Mountain NC 28711

WHEN: Begins Thursday January 28 7 pm and runs alternate Thursdays through February (2/11 and 2/25). and into March if needed.

WHO: Singers who are unmanaged compete for $1, 000 in cash and prizes. Prizes include a showcase performance at White Horse Black Mountain, professional career consultations with White Horse co-owner Bob Hinkle (former manager of J Geils Band, Harry Chapin, Etta James, Kenny Rogers, Dottie West, Manfred Mann, etc www.bobhinkle.com), a free demo recording in the wonderful White Horse listening room, and other prizes. Singers will fill out an application and pay a fee of $10 to compete. They will recieve written feedback from judges.

Potential contestants may go to http://greatblueridgetalentsearch.blogspot.com/ or contact Bob Hinkle or Kimberly Hughes at whitehorseblackmountain@gmail.com.

Application forms are available upon request.

Cake Shop First Birthday Party, Sunday, February 14!

Come celebrate the Cake Shop's First Birthday with us! We would like to thank you for a stellar first year at our Haywood Road location, and toast to many cake-full years to come! Live music, a cake raffle to benefit AMURT/Haiti Fund, Treats, Beverages, and so much love we won't even know what to do with ourselves! Specials on valentine's Sweethearts and Broken Hearts Cakes, Mardi Gras Beads, King Cake, and Much Much More!

Donna the Buffalo: Asheville connections

From a press release: DtB has Asheville ties!

Donna the Buffalo bring their trademark hybrid of folk, reggae, Cajun, zydeco, rock and country to The Orange Peel on Thursday, January 28th, 2010.

Just so you know, the rhythm section of the band has strong ties to Asheville.

Bass Player, Jay Sanders, has lived here for 12 years and has played music throughout these times. He started off as a bass player with Snake Oil Medicine show when they first moved into the WNCScene and played with CX1 for a brief period as well. Jay also plays with Acoustic Syndicate and a Jazz Group called the E.Normus trio. Look for some collaborative projects from him starting February, Tuesday nights at the Rocket Club (I will send you more info on that as it draws nearer).

Dave McCracken, the keyboard player, has family ties for generations in Asheville. His father, James, was born a raised here playing music at the Grove Park during his late teens before moving on to Greensboro where he opened a music store. Dave's grandfather, Cicero Jr. was born in 1911 in town and his great grandfather, Cicero, was a country doctor that rode through Fairview on horseback to treat patients at home. Dave was born in Greensboro to the music scene there and continues to stop through Asheville with many collaborative projects with Hobex Cyril Lance, Folkswaggin, and Cosmic Charlie. He also was an engineer at Moog in Asheville building analog synthesisers for a little over a year.

Vic Stafford, the drummer, was born and raised in Asheville, having even gone to the Biltmore School before it shut down. He has collaborated on projects with Stephanie's ID, the Goodies, and Kat Williams. Steven Heller from Upstream Productions is one of Vic's mentors and co-collaborators. He has also frequently does work with both Collapseable Studios and Echo Mountain

Between the three southern men, they reinterpret the older songs of Donna the Buffalo into a new repertoire that sounds lively and fresh, along with adding insight to new music that is written.

Donna The Buffalo

The Orange Peel
Thursday January 28, 2010
18+
doors 8pm, show 9pm
$18.00/ $20.00
(828) 225-5851
101 Biltmore Ave
Asheville, NC 28801
www.theorangepeel.net
www.donnathebuffalo.com

Music Video Asheville: Submit a Video!

Music Video Asheville returns in 2010, asking area musicians and video artists to create original works for a spring showcase of 100% homegrown local music videos.

Put on by Future of Asheville Music, MVA needs YOUR videos by Feb. 17. The showcase of all qualified submitted videos is March 10 at Cinebarre.

MVA is open to all Buncombe County residents who submit one video showcasing their act's live footage, music video or documentary style film. At the event, the audience will vote for their favorite video, and the winning video wins a cash prize.

2009 participants included Toubab Krewe, Ear Powr, Laura Reed, Bugs Multiply, The Poles, Shapetastic, Angi West, Buncombe Turnpike, Velvet Truckstop, Mad Tea Party, LS and MJ Grillo, The Broomstars, Arizona, Custard Pie, Josh Phillips, Ice Horse, The Cheeksters, Chakra Bird, Nights Bright Colors, Tyler Ramsey, Quetzatl, Custard Pie, LAAFF, Silver Machine and Now You See Them.

The screening is open to the public, and tickets are $5 each. All ticket proceeds go directly toward the winning artist's prize.

All Asheville-area musicians and filmmakers are invited to submit one video or film. Organizers ask that all participants download the MVA submission guidelines and MVA submission form (linked below).

Music Video Asheville
Deadline for submission: Feb. 17
Video showcase: March 10, Cinebarre (behind Biltmore Square Mall)
6pm to 10pm, $5

MVA website
Official 2010 guidelines
Submission form

BlogAsheville: Getting Ready for Some Changes

We here at BlogAsheville are getting ready for some changes... Web guy Eric Sopp of InsideDesign is snooping around our shabby canned code, getting ready to make this blog look and work better (our 2009 Most in Need of a Redeisgn award is, sadly, well deserved).

We're also gearing up to restart blogger meetups. Tentatively, we're meeting in mid-March at Posana Cafe, with some social time over a Pisgah Ale followed by a constructive chat with everyone's favorite city councilblogger Gordon Smith (tied, perhaps, with Cecil Bothwell) about how bloggers and other citizen media users can use our powers for citywide good.

Gordon's already using his blog as a platform for using digital media to keep people informed and updated, and we'll talk with him about how we can help. It'll be even more fun after a few beers!

But before all the changes, its time for an overdue THANK YOU to the sponsors who made last year's Spookypalooza benefit possible. This is just the first round. We've got more to thank.

If you're a BlogAsheville fan, a great way to show support is to support any local business, especially one of our sponors.

From all of us at BlogAsheville: THANK YOU.

Applied Solutions Group: Solutions and Information Technology for your business.

Applied Solutions Group provides a wide range of networking and custom website development and design services to Asheville, Western North Carolina and the surrounding region. Our expertise includes Windows networks and extends to our higher end solutions, including Cisco and Open Source Solutions using Linux.

Efficiency is the most important part of your business's ability to grow. We keep it simple. Your infrastructure should be optimized and designed to grow with your company. We provide a wide range of Managed IT services, from custom application development, to unique website design, from Voice Over IP telephony powered by Asterisk PBX to remote Network Access with a secure VPN. Let us help you build and manage your IT Infrastructure.

Sparkdog

Sparkdog Better Findability is a local web marketing agency that helps small and medium sized businesses dominate their markets by getting more out of their web sites. Owner Clark Mackey coined the term "findability" to describe what they do.

Findability means helping people find your web site, helping them get what they want on your site, and helping them return again and again. Sparkdog’s services amount to a long range marketing plan for the web and they include things like search engine optimization, link building, web statistics analysis, conversion rate optimization and careful attention to return on investment.

“Really, we solve problems with the same tools bloggers use - an active mind, good words, and the Internet. In that way I consider bloggers to be kindred spirits, communicators who place a little piece of themselves out there in an effort to make the world just a little bit better, one post at a time.”

Dog Tag Art

hihowareyou [at] dogtagart.com

Colorful. Distinct. Cool. Dog Tag Art has taken the lead on stylish, personalized, virtually indestructible Pet ID Tags. Dog Tag Art allows you to create a unique reflection of your pet's personality through hundreds of crowdsourced designs from talented artists. If you like sniffing out good design and cool pet accessories, give us a try.

Jason Webley: What the well-dressed gypsy accordionist is wearing this season

Here's radical accordionist Jason Webley, who rocked Bobo last night, at an undisclosed Asheville location modeling a new Organic Armor top hat. Check out more Organic Armor here.

Thanks to Jennifer at Organic Armor for the pic, and thanks to Jason for stopping by! Come back anytime!

Hot Picking Every Tuesday at the Feed & Seed, Fletcher

From an Asheville Craigslist ad. What a cool local event!


Hi all, every Tuesday night we are hosting Will Ray's Mountain Jam at the "Feed And Seed" club in south Asheville. Local music legends "The Sons of Ralph" are our house band. We do a short set in order to set the mood, and then start getting people up on stage who want to sit in with the band. The objective is to "jam on" some good grooves & standards, be creative, and to have fun.

If you want to just listen, there's a lot of good picking going on. We've had musicians such as David Holt and Bobby Cochran perform, as well as members from the Hellecasters, Bill Monroe, Vassar Clements, Rhonda Vincent, Michael Nesmith, Carlene Carter and Ronnie Milsap. Sometimes the picking gets ferocious on stage!

If you want to sit in, we have a sign-up sheet which works on a first come, first served basis, so get there early because we need to be done by 9:30pm. Whether you sing, play guitar, bass, fiddle, drums or whatever - this is your chance to show Asheville what you can do, and maybe hook up with some other musicians in the process. We provide the drum kit, amps, PA and pro backup band - you provide the talent and instrument (Guitar, bass, keys, vocals etc). We'll back you up and support you to sound your best.

The "Feed And Seed" is located at 3715 Hendersonville Road in south Asheville in Fletcher, at the corner of Fanning Bridge Road, next to Sunshine Chevrolet. The Mountain Jam hours go from 7:30 - 9:30pm every Tuesday night. And admission is Freeeeeeeeeee!

Come on down and sit in, or just sit back and enjoy the music and the anything-can-happen atmosphere. This is a family type establishment, with no smoking and no alcohol. They have a nice concession stand there where you can buy bottled water and soft drinks and snacks. It's a place where the music speaks for itself.

For more information on the Feed and Seed go to
http://www.feedandseednc.com

Some live footage:
http://web.me.com/cmagoffin/Videos/Events/Events.html

Hope to see you there.

Will Ray
http://www.willray.biz

Sons of Ralph
http://www.sonsofralph.com

Last Vortex Cabaret of the Month this Thursday, January 28th

The Vortex Cabaret is a live variety show put on for the benefit of the many excellent and innovative performers in the Asheville area. It happens every Thursday night from 9 PM to 1 AM at 11 Grove St, above Scandals. We have comedy, drama, music, burlesque, and straight-up surrealism, plus a whole lot more.
This week, we feature an exhibition by local artist Allysa Oliver. There's also stand-up comedians from the Tomato Tuesdays group, dramatic readings from Trevor of Firestorm Cafe, and the best in Asheville's underground music scene.
Admission to the Vortex Cabaret is $5, and ages 18+. We charge a cover because we believe in paying artists. For more information on the Vortex Cabaret, and to subscribe to updates, please visit our website at vortexcabaret.blogspot.com.

Washburn and Webley Monday

The gods know Asheville's full of freaky, fringey talent (and you're welcome to tell us all about it -- just send email to blogasheville@hotmail anytime), but here's two artists of note in town on Monday, of all days:

Banjo player/songwriter Abigail Washburn plays Laurey's Catering 6-8. Her first solo album, Song of the Traveling Daughter, was produced by Béla Fleck and features cellist Ben Sollee and Jordan McConnell, guitarist for The Duhks. Two songs were recorded in Mandarin Chinese, which she learned while living in China.

Here's Washburn on NPR talking about playing banjo music with Chinese lyrics.

Also playing Monday is Jason Webley, the accordionist who (sort of) introduced Asheville favorite Amanda Palmer to her now-fiance, writer Neil Gaiman (pretty much another Asheville favorite, one who vowed to sign at Malaprop's someday, and he seems like a man of his word). Webley's at Bobo with fellow accordionist, Asheville's own vaudevie, at 8 p.m., $8.

Dude, you could totally catch both shows.

Washburn on MySpace

Webley on MySpace

As Jim Barton (@smithmillcreek) said on Twitter, whatta town.

Humbly Helping Haiti: Benefit Today, 7 p.m.

From a Facebook page:

Humbly Helping Haiti

A Benefit Party for Haiti Earthquake Relief

Date:	Saturday, January 23, 2010
Time:	7:00pm - 11:55pm
Location:	Hanger Hall (Asheville)
Street:	31 Park Ave North
City/Town:	Asheville, NC

Description

JOIN US for a benefit party to raise funds for the earthquake relief efforts in Haiti.

LISTEN to live local music (Greenway, Alex Krug w/ Ashley Cofield, Joy Jansen, and Eric J.)
WIN cool prizes (local art/crafts/products, massage, etc.)
NIBBLE on local food
REFRESH with local beer &
CHALLENGE your friends to a cornhole tournament

The cover is a suggested donation of $5 at the door.

The proceeds from this event will be donated to the American Red Cross Haiti Relief and Development Fund. Best of all- ALL CASH DONATIONS FROM THIS EVENT WILL BE DOUBLED! (The donor who is matching our funds wishes to remain anonymous.)

So come on out, join together with the local community, and let's have some fun while making a difference. Bring your friends. Bring your cash. Bring an open heart. See you there!

We are putting on this event in partnership with Brother Wolf Animal Rescue, a local nonprofit.

Thank you to our sponsors! We could not do this with out you!
Roots Cafe
Laurey's Catering
Pisgah Brewing

If you need more information or are interested in donating food, drink, services, goods, or art, please contact Cara Steinbuchel at (828) 280-5659.

If you are unable to attend but wish to help with the Earthquake Relief Efforts in Haiti, please donate to an established, reputable charity such as the American Red Cross by calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or donating online at http://www.redcross.org.

Directions: (If you are using a GPS, our full address is 31 Park Avenue North Asheville NC 28801) From the intersection of Hilliard and Clingman, turn West onto Clingman, drive to the top of the hill and you will see the city bus garage surrounded by a fence on the left. At the end of the fence, take a sharp left onto Park Ave. North and follow signs to parking at the end of the street. Hanger Hall is the mansion on the corner of Park Ave. North and Girdwood. Welcome!

The Big Picture: Asheville or Moscow?

Image by Bill Rhodes of Bill Rhodes Photography. Original image here.

Got a great Asheville pic to share? Email us at blogasheville@hotmail.com.

Life Is Good: New Work by Severn Eaton Opening Reception at Short Street Cakes Friday, January 22, 6pm

Come check out new Ashevillian Severn Eaton's work hanging at the Cake Shop! Severn's work combines beautiful imagery with sometimes stark social commentary... oh, and there will be cake.
xo

Bloggers of Asheville! What do you want?

If you're a blogger, can you spare a minute to tell us something?

If we started up regular blogger meetups again, what would interest you?

A few of us here at BlogAsheville are talking about re-starting quarterly blogger meetups this spring. We'd like to keep the blogging community connected, share best practices, work together on community projects, and just enjoy the excellent company of Asheville's smart, vibrant and community-minded creative class of bloggers, Tweeters and Facebookers.

We've talked about social time, just hanging out somewhere where there's good beer and good food.

We've talked about a forum where we gather to talk about things that we care about as a blogging community, like disaster response using citizen media. We could invite Progress Energy, Fire & Rescue, Progress Energy, Charter, the DOT and everyone we can think of who was affected by the recent snowstorm. Talk together on what to do in the next crisis with powerful new tools that are reshaping the media landscape.

It'd be a hell of a way for bloggers to make real-world change in area where our much-lauded tools weren't used anywhere near their maximum power and effectiveness. We could help our city put a real plan into place for the next time that ordinary life in Asheville stops dead in its tracks.

We've talked about a speaker series, inviting local experts bloggers are geniunely interested in: star WNC powerbloggers who make money with their blogs, local SEO experts, local experts in blogging platforms like Wordpress, etc.

It all comes down to you, bloggers. It all comes down to us. Like our ideas? Got some of your own?

I figure we want to get together. I figure we want to make it worth our while.

What do we want to do?

Leave a comment and let us know.

- BlogAsheville Management

Want to Mentor a Teen Mom?

Cross-posted from the YWCA's Blog

The YWCA MotherLove program is recruiting volunteer mentors to provide support and encouragement to teen mothers. An information session for potential mentors will be held on Thursday, January 28 at 5:00 pm at the YWCA, 185 S. French Broad Avenue. Refreshments will be served. An 8 hour a month commitment is required to be a mentor. For more information, contact MotherLove Director Tangela Bowman at 254-7206 x 116 or tangie.bowman@ywcaofasheville.org.

Pimp My Portfolio: Alex Sacui and Nosepliot

Mural by Alex Sacui of Nosepilot

Got an online portfolio of your graphic design, web design, photography or what have you? BlogAsheville is spotlighting the work of local media artists.

Looking for a videographer, graphic designer or what have you? Check out our Pimp My Portfolio posts.

Spotlighted this week is the work of Alex Sacui of Nosepilot. The multi-talented Sacui is an animator, illustrator, web designer, graphic designer AND muralist. Holy crap.

Click Shiva to see more...


If you live in the Asheville area, pimp your own work by sending an email to BlogAsheville [at] hotmail daht cahm.

Soup and cornbread benefit for Haiti at Rosetta's Jan. 17 and 24

Taken from Facebook: downtown restaurant Rosetta's holds a Haiti benefit on consecutive Sundays, Jan. 17 and 24. Facebook link here.

Benefit for Haitian Earthquake Survivors Community Cauldron Soup Benefit

Type:	Causes - Fundraiser
Network:	Global

Date:	Sunday, January 17, 2010
Time:	6:00pm - 10:00pm
Location:	Rosetta's Kitchen
Street:	111 Broadway

Description

Please come to Rosetta's Cauldron Soup night on Sunday January 17th and Sunday January 24th. Soup and cornbread are by donation. All the money will be sent to Haiti to help earthquake survivors via Herbs for Orphans (http://www.herbs4orphans.org) and American Rainbow Rapid Response (http://www.facebook.com/pages/American-Rainbow-Rapid-Response/72611201044?v=info).

People need tents and water purifiers as well, if you would like to donate those. We will send all donations, along with dry beans and rice to Haiti. ♥

Herbs for Orphans Inc. is a non-profit charity that provides nutritional solutions for underprivileged youth in poverty-stricken countries worldwide. It also seeks to raise public awareness of the physical and socioeconomic repercussions of malnutrition. American Rainbow Rapid Response's mission is to provide a comprehensive response to the mass care needs of individuals affected by large-scale disaster through: providing nutritious, mostly organic, hand made, home cooked meals; providing opportunities to other grassroots, faith-based, youth and community groups to come together and offer their respective services to the affected communities; and offering education opportunities to our own network and the public on issues such as preparedness, mitigation, response, and emotional/spiritual health.

Havana: Killing Castro - help the author

I would like to ask everyone who reads my latest work, Havana: Killing Castro, to help me promote this exciting work by writing comments and/or leaving a review on one or both of the following sites:

Comments:
http://readersfavorite.com/cat-71.htm?review=2746

Reviews:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00336EXHO?ie=UTF8&tag=readsfavo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00336EXHO

David Pereda

Haircuts for Haiti: Feb. 1 Cut-a-Thon, 100% to Relief Efforts

As we watch the devastation unfold in Haiti, feelings of helplessness along with tremendous sadness are overwhelming. As we celebrate justice and honor Dr. King this weekend and early next week, area citizens and business are finding ways to contribute to the relief efforts. By getting your haircut in a participating salon on Feb. 1, you can participate as well.

More on Pollinate Asheville.

Local bookstore helps Haiti Sat. Jan 16

From an email from Mr. K's Used Book Store, a regional chain with a location in Asheville. All Mr. K's locations are donating 10% of profits on Saturday, Jan. 16 to relief efforts in Haiti.

Help for Haiti

We at Mr. K's are deeply saddened by the recent events that have rocked Haiti. We have already made a $1000 donation to relief efforts but feel we can do more. Therefore, this Saturday, January 16, 10% of all sales at all four locations will be donated to help with this worthy cause. Our world has become increasingly small and what affects one affects all. Communities have always come together in times of need and this time, we feel sure, will be no exception. We appreciate your shopping with us and ask you to keep Haiti in your thoughts and prayers.

Mr. K's Used Books, Music & More email: mrksbooks@aol.com web: http://mrksonline.com

Mr. K's Asheville is located at 800 Fairview Rd. in River Ridge Market Place, near the Bleachery Blvd. Wal-Mart and sort of across from Home Depot. Their hours Saturday are 9a-9p.

Ray Daniels of the Cicerone Beer Certification Program comes to Asheville

Next Tuesday and Wednesday, Asheville beer people get to meet another beer “celebrity” when Ray Daniels comes to town. You can rank Ray right up there with Charlie Papazian with his incredible wealth of beer knowledge. Ray is in town to teach courses at the Grove Park Inn for Cicerone Certification Program. The Cicerone is the beer equivalent to a wine sommelier. In recent years with the resurgence of craft beer, there has been much debate as to what you call a true beer professional—the one that knows all things beer, inside-and-out. Daniels stepped to the challenge. Harvard educated with a storied career in beer (and marketing), Daniels has worked previously for the Real Ale Fest in Chicago and The Brewers Association before creating the Cicerone Program in 2007.

There is no other person in recent years whom we’ve heard more about that Daniels. He’s been called “the most educated man on beer” for one thing. And we have a special treat for you Asheville beer geeks. Bruisin' Ales is hosting Ray in-store next Tuesday, January 19 starting at 6:30 p.m. for a meet-n-greet, so all you fanatics, homebrewers, and beer lovers should not miss this opportunity.

More on the program: A pre-requisite for the Cicerone Certification is the Beer Server Exam, a shorter test taken on-line for those in the industry. We highly encourage all folks working in the Asheville beer community to take this exam. The Cicerone Program course syllabus is comprised of two courses designed to help those with weaknesses in particular areas of beer. For those interested, the information is below:

Registration Still Open for Cicerone Exam and Courses in Asheville!

Online registration is now available for the Ceritified Cicerone exam and two Cicerone Program advanced courses that will be held this month in Asheville, NC.

Advanced Courses:
Tuesday January 19, 9:00 am – 12:30 pm / Draft Beer Systems & Advanced Beer Service

Draft Systems & Advanced Beer Service:

- Enemies of beer – skunking, oxidation, heat, infection
- Proper handling & dispense: corked & bottle-conditioned beers
- Draft system components, structure & balance
- Draft system operation & maintenance
- Beer glassware

Tuesday January 19, 1:30 – 5:00 pm / Advanced Beer Styles (German & Belgian)

Advanced Beer Styles:

- Advanced beer quantitation: gravity, attenuation, BU:GU ratios
- German pale lagers
- German dark lagers
- German wheat beers
- German Rhine ales
- Belgian abbey and trappist ales
- Belgian farmhouse ales
- Belgian lambics & Flanders ales

Both courses will be conducted at Grove Park Inn, Asheville, NC.

Exam:
Wednesday, January 20, starts at 11:00 am (Should finish by 3:00 pm.) / Asheville Brewing Co., Coxe Avenue location, Asheville, NC.

Advance Registration is Required. See Links Below.

Advanced Beer Styles German & Belgian

Advanced Draft Systems and Service

Combined Advanced Courses

Reading scheduled for Havana: Killing Castro

Hello Family, Friends and Scribes,

This is an advance notice that the first reading of my award-winning thriller, Havana: Killing Castro, will take place on Friday February 26 at Montford Books at 6:30 PM.

The event promises to be quite exciting and may have several overseas visitors present, including Princess Elizabeth Von Alexander who has vowed to fly in from Paris for the occasion if her duties as a UN goodwill ambassador don't interfere. The inimitable Rosita La-La and her dancing partner, Agustin "El Apache" from the Salsationals will get us all in the mood by showing us how to dance Cuban salsa. And Juan Benavides, the accomplished Flameco guitarrist, will accompany my readings playing his guitar.

Havana: Killing Castro is the second book of the Havana Series of thrillers and continues the adventures and misadventures of the same cast of characters you met in Havana: Top Secret. Here's a brief synopsis of the book:

When an old fisherman is gunned down on a Mexican beach, prominent Miami surgeon Raymond Peters becomes the prime suspect. The dead fisherman is believed to be Fidel Castro, whom Dr. Raymond Peters helped disguise through clandestine plastic surgery on a trip to Cuba two years earlier. In order to save his own life, the beleaguered doctor must find the killers and retrieve a mysterious journal while outwitting a ruthless woman assassin named Marcela, sent by Castro’s brother Raul.

So mark this event on your calendar and come join the fun!

David Pereda

www.davidpereda.com

Asheville Vaudeville - Video by G Social Media

Asheville Vaudeville put on a wonderful performance the other evening at the BeBe Theatre downtown. Their shows are on the 1st Thursday of every month, so you really need to come out and have some fun with these great local peeps. Cherry Oh from the Bootstraps joined in on the fun too! Got to meet Thomas and Brian.. the producers of Asheville Vaudeville and we look forward to their future shows in the AVL area.

Video by G Social Media
See more... Asheville Videos

In the midst of all this snow and freezing weather, I want to share with you a warm spot. My new thriller Havana: Killing Castro -- the highly anticipated sequel to Havana: Top Secret -- was released this week by Eternal Press. For those of you who are into this series already, I'm hard at work writing the next book, Havana: Twin Powers, which will take readers on another whirlwind chase around the world, this time as far away as the Middle East.

I have great expectations for Havana: Killing Castro. It has won several awards already and is now one of four finalists in the thriller category of the Readers Favorite Contest.

To learn more about it and to purchase the e-book version (the print version will not be available for another week), please go to www.eternalpress.ca or visit my website: www.davidpereda.com

Have a great weekend and whatever you don't do, please do keep writing!

See you all soon.

David Pereda

The Nauhaus Group - Carbon Neutral Homes in Asheville

Can you imagine a house that can be heated by body heat alone. The Nauhaus Group can, and we've got an inside look at their new prototype in West Asheville. Here is the video. The Podcasts are listed below the video. Please share the content with your friends. Thanks!!!

Related Podcasts:

Zane Adams Interview - Part 1 (13m 7s)
By Justin Belleme for Listen Local on AshevilleFM.org.

Zane Adams Interview - Part 2 (7m 38s)
By Justin Belleme for Listen Local on AshevilleFM.org.

Read More... The Nauhaus Group - Asheville Update Episode 5

Havana: Killing Castro, the latest thriller from Asheville's own David Pereda, will be released tomorrow, January 7, 2010 by Eternal Press. This book has already won many awards... why not let it win your personal Reader's Favorite award? (Also available soon at Fictionwise, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and many other fine eBook merchants.)

Blue Ridge Pride

Hey, did you go to Blue Ridge Pride last October? Do you have five minutes?

The Blue Ride Pride planning committee would like to invite you to participate in this survey as a means of contributing to the ideas and plans for future Blue Ridge Pride festivals and projects. Blue Ridge Pride believes the only way to create a festival that every one believes and participates in is to have direct feedback from the community. Our mission is to not only create a fun weekend that promotes equality, diversity, and unity, but also to create a bank of residual funds that can be funneled back into the community via localized donations or in the long run a community center focused on the needs of out LGBTQ youth and civic groups. Be a part of Asheville and WNC history! For more information please contact blueridgepride@yahoo.com or www.blueridgepride.com with questions.

To complete the survey, please click on the link below, and the committee thanks you in advance for your input!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PKL6WN2

Thank you, and forward this link widely!

Asheville Vaudeville on AshevilleFM

Join me, and four special guests from Asheville Vaudeville, tonight at 9:30pm on AshevilleFM. Stream here. Support local radio and local artists! also tune in to my show (Machine Made of Birds) every Sunday 9pm-midnight for all your musical needs!


About Asheville Vaudeville:

Asheville's monthly dose of cabaret, juggling, short plays, magic-acts, and more returns! Featuring ALL NEW MATERIAL from all our acts--- that's right folks, this time we've got knife juggling, bizarre feats of magic and skill, and a scandalous new secret straight from the dressing room of Ms. LaRue (just to mention a few). This month's line-up includes the explosive local talent of:


Tom the Magician!
Cookie LaRue!
Forty Fingers and the Missing Tooth!
Strings Attached Marionettes!
Bretian the Hungarian Accordionist!
That Enchanting ex-Mermaid from the Deep, Valerie Meiss!
Nocturnal Clownery!
Gypsy reels from Carolina Music Band!
Comedic Sketches by Thomas Butler!
Lindsay Pruett (Half-woman, half-violin, all amazing)!
Tomfoolery by Don Talley!
and your host... Baron Von Sneeden!


And that's not all: Vaudeville has gone LATE NIGHT! Can't make the early show? Aren't satisfied by just one performance? Come to our 10:00pm show! (Warning: late-night Vaudevillians may be more prone to lewdness, rumpotting, and down-right abscondery--- not to mention...eroticism)

$12.00 advance tickets on sale at Malaprop's Bookstore and Cafe.
$15.00 at the door.

Remember: Asheville Vaudeville gives A THIRD of all ticket prices to benefit MANNA Food Bank, voted #1 do-gooder group by the Mountain Xpress' "Best Of" 2009. Every ten dollars we raise feeds 25 people, which means 500 meals for every sold-out performance!

Come: be entertained! Feed hungry people! Feed hungry artists!

After Copenhagen: Community Climate Discussion Saturday

Dec. 12, 2009 climate march in Copenhagen. Photo by Zoe Caron.

From Jim Barton:

Happy New Year!

Concerned about the climate and curious what happened at the Copenhagen Climate Conference?

David McConville [a local media artist who was in Copenhagen during the conference] will be showing up tomorrow (Sat, Jan 2, West Asheville Library 10 am to noon, free) and talking about some of the material at http://www.350.org/solutions

More info at http://j.mp/AVLAfterCop2

If you are on Facebook, you can make an optional RSVP at http://j.mp/AvlAfterCop15

Bring a friend! Bring five!

Asheville Woman Sponsors Jan. 5 Benefit for Kanyini Centre

Asheville's Katie Kasben (no, that's not her in the pic) just returned home after four months in the Australian outback, working with indigenous people and attending the Garma Festival of Traditional Culture.

On Saturday Kasben is holding a benefit fundraiser for the Kanyini Centre, a charity founded by an Aboriginal Australian, "Uncle Bob" Randall, who works for social justice for fellow Aboriginals, a people historically discriminated against (they were classified under the Australian Flora and Fauna Act until a 1967 referendum).

The benefit includes Kasben sharing her experiences in Australia, and also a showing of Kanyini, a movie in which Randall tells why indigenous people struggle in a modern world, and what needs to be done for them to move forward.

Kasben said the 53-minute movie was one of "Indigenous wisdom clashing against materialist notions of progress ... not only a story of one man and his people but the story of the human race."

benefits:
Uncle Bob's Kanyini Centre, and Sharing Cultures Pty. Ltd.

Tickets:

Tickets are a suggested donation of $5-$10, but no one will be turned away

where:
Fine Arts Theatre, downtown Asheville

when:
7 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 5.

Doors open at 6:30

***

Link to the Mountain Xpress "Conscious Party" listing is here.

Learn more about Kanyini here.

Check out Kasben's blog (and her Australian adventures) here.