Asheville
Eighteen-year-old Asheville resident Jennifer Thornburg has won an Outstanding Activist Award from PETA2 the world’s largest youth animal rights organization for her successful effort to have a dissection choice policy for students adopted at her school. She is also being recognized for her other efforts to help animals and promote animal rights.

Jennifer went vegan more than three years ago, and when she was in seventh grade, she was given an assignment to dissect a chicken – something she instinctively knew was wrong.

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But this is SO not funny:

The corporations in this country are screwed!

I hope they come with a free kayak…how soon they forget.

Flood photo stolen from Zen

For the first time ever, development along the French Broad River in the Asheville area is becoming a reality. Developers are planning construction of The River Condominiums to begin in the late summer, with completion about 16 months after the groundbreaking.

“Waterfront property has always been in high demand,” said project developer Tony Cecil with Urban Spaces, located in Asheville. “Plus, we are just minutes from downtown, but without the downtown prices.” Read the rest of this entry »

Messed up. Click the picture to see more NASA photos.

Kelly’s Barber shop owner Wayne Owen Kelly, 61, of 136 Fox Chase Road West, Asheville, died Monday, Oct. 22 at his residence.

Mr. Kelly was born in Asheville and was a son of Helen Kirkpatrick Stevens and the late C.O. Kelly. Mr. Kelly owned Kelly’s Barber Shop. He was a veteran of the U.S. Navy, serving in Europe, and was a member of VFW.

A memorial service will be at 10 a.m. Friday at the Groce Funeral Home chapel on Patton Avenue, with the Rev. Father John M. Pagel officiating.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, 768 Asbury Road, Candler, NC 28715.

Haywood Road won’t be the same…

Fits my name and demeanor. Crank it up!

Hot Diggity Dog

The FreakinStore is Open!.

It’s your one-stop-shopping destination for all things Freakin. We’ve got tees, and soon, we’ll have coffee mugs, bags, panties and much, much more.

Plus, we’ll be offering original artwork and products from local artists and businesses. If you wanna get in - let us know. We’d love to feature you on FreakinAsheville and all across the FreakinUniverse!

Also, as with all our FreakinAsheville and FreakinUniverse sites, 10% of all profits will be going to a good cause. This month (and for the forseeable future,) we’re donating that 10% to research into lupus. We have a heart. It’s mostly cold and black, but we’re trying…

One of the best I’ve gotten recently:

I’ve also gotten phone calls from Quality Ass and Jennifer Anniston.

As a graphic designer, I have found myself designing an awful lot of retail packaging. It’s a challenge, really - trick the public into buying something they don’t really want or need. It’s psychology, perfidy and art all at the same time. I guess all advertising is that way*.

As usual, it seems that the Europeans and Far Easterners have found a better way to design things. For your viewing pleasure, I submit some packaging projects I wish I had taken part in:

*Politics, too.

It’s raining.

Again.

For the third day in a row.

Mind you, we need the rain - but I miss the sun. It fuels my searing hatred of mankind and all the world.

The rain just makes me a little sad.

The provided Imbed code from AshVid doesn’t work on this site for some reason, so here’s the link instead.

We’re (and by we’re I really mean someone else) updating the navigation and a couple of other systems. Might be a little uneven for a few hours.

Hell - it’s free. What are you complaining about?

Jazz at Reuter Center for Jazz Composers Forum

Sunday Oct 28th

The Non-Profit Jazz Composers Forum presents Jazz icon Burton Greene on Sunday, October 28^th 4:00 PM . The concert will be at the Reuter Center on the campus of UNCA as part of the Jazz at Reuter Center series. The concert will feature the original music of Greene, who will play the first set solo and be joined in the second set by pianist Bill Gerhardt, bassist Mike Holstein and saxophonist Aimee Sullivan.

Originally from Chicago, Burton began his long career of many recordings and performances in New York´s legendary jazz scene of the 1960’s. He and Bassist Alan Silva contributed to the beginnings of free jazz in New York with the formation of their Free Form Improvisation Ensemble in 1963. He also co-founded the East West Trio with Indian sitarist Jamaluddin Bhartiya and percussionist Daoud Amin in 1973, one of the first World Music groups. In the last 17 years he’s been busy with his klezmer, Sephardic, Balkan jazz ensemble Klezmokum, and various jazz solo, trio or quartet combinations. He also has a solo orchestral electronics program, teaches jazz, world music workshops, and lectures.

Greene is based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and performs periodically in New York. The Jazz Composers Forum and Asheville are lucky to have such a world class musician perform here.

For tickets and more information visit www.jazzcomposersforum.org

Price: $20, $10 for students under 25 yrs with ID

Date & Time: Sunday October 28^th 4:00 PM

Location: Reuter Center on the Campus of UNCA

The photo is from a few years back and the vehicle was owned by the wonderful Suzie Millions whom i see around town occasionally and the next time i see

Just downloaded Radiohead’s “In Rainbows” from their site. You can download DRM-free tracks (160kbps, so pretty good sounding) for whatever you want to pay. So, while they’re not technically giving it away, I think they’re really on the right track as far as music goes. They’re letting the fans have the music with the understanding that the fans will support them…

I think this means the music industry is passing away. That’s a good thing. Music is finally going to be back in the hands of the artists and the fans, and control by marketing teams and advertising “gurus” will be all but eliminated. I’m hoping music will be good and pure and available. Everyone from Billy Joel to the dude on the corner with the saxaphone and the hat full of change should be able to put out whatever they want - and not have to worry about the consequences of pleasing their label.

And so FreakinAsheville and FreakinUniverse. It’s free - it’ll always be free. Both literally and figuratively. We want to give it away, and we know that it’ll support us. It’s our platform to have fun and express ourselves - and we want to give that ability away, too.

So - enjoy. Go grab some good tunes (oh yeah - it’s a good record, too) and make something cool today.

The FreakinPrincess of this little movement is an incredible lady with more strength and will than I’ve ever been able to muster - and I must admit to outright admiration.

See, she has an autoimmune disease called lupus. I bitch and moan when my hips hurt from years of skateboarding badly, but she puts up with regular joint replacements with aplomb. Plus, she runs herd on all us little kids with a smile and a chuckle.

Lupus is a little-understood disease, and it’s something we should certainly know more about. So - here’s your chance:

WHAT: Radio Program – “Patient Power” with Andrew Schorr
Live around the world at www.healthradio.net.
Lupus is an autoimmune disorder that can cause life-threatening problems in vital areas like the heart, blood and brain. This illness often leads to serious conditions including inflammation, and also can cause good cells to mistakenly attack each other. We will be joined by Dr. Susan Manzi, a world-renowned expert on lupus at the University of Pittsburg Medical Center, and a mother suffering with lupus who will share her everyday experiences and offer hope for others living with this illness. You don’t want to miss out on this special presentation. Call in with your questions live!

WHO (FEATURED GUESTS):
Susan Manzi, M.D., M.P.H.: Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Nicole Carter: Mother with lupus
Andrew Schorr: Host and eleven-year CLL survivor

WHEN: Monday, October 22, 2007 from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Central Time (that’s 11-1 here, folks)

HOW TO PARTICIPATE: Listen live at www.healthradio.net
Call in live at 877.711.5611, Email questions to andrew@patientpower.info

Also, for more info, visit LupusAdvocacy.org