Solstice @ Botanical Gardens

WINTER SOLSTICE On Thursday, December 21 from 3:30 to 5 PM, all are invited to a celebration of the Winter Solstice. The event will be held at The Botanical Gardens at Asheville in Sunshine Meadow and will feature participatory music and dance, poetry, prayers and shared silence. Festive seasonal costumes, drums and rattles are encouraged! Also, wear warm clothing.

Music and dance and hot drinks at 3:30 PM Ritual begins at 4 PM. Ritual ends at 5 PM on this shortest day of the year The event is produced by Earth Celebrations, which for 2 years has been independently holding public gatherings at BGA on the Equinoxes and Solstices.

The intent of these seasonal celebrations is to inform our knowledge of who we are, where we are and what is our part in the great web of life. These are co-created events that charge no fees and occur "rain or shine." Donations are received on behalf of the Botanical Gardens at Asheville.

For Earth Celebrations contact: Cathy Holt, 252-3054; Mary Stair 254-0943. No RSVP necessary _

Touch Samadhi - Unconditional

unconditional NYE | TOUCH Samadhi

Blogged with Flock

ACRC - Asheville Community Resource Center

The ACRC houses many organizations dedicated to social change. They include:

The Asheville Prison Books Program - free literature and materials
The Women’s/Transgendered Health Project - information and support
The Asheville Free School - Free classes and workshops
The Asheville Global Report - news under- or unreported by mainstream
Katuah Earth First! - local chapter of the environmental movement
The Re-Cyclery bicycle collective - workshops on maintenance and repair
The Jab Jab Self Defense Collective - share skills and create awareness

link

Silver Drummer Girl & Andie MacD

Movie star and Asheville resident Andie MacDowell (left) enjoys a street performer who plays drums briefly and bows each time someone tosses money into the basket in front of her. The action occurred on a balmy afternoon last Friday on Haywood Street across from the Flying Frog Café. The day after Thanksgiving brought numerous shoppers to downtown Asheville. Staff Photo by KYM LUTZ

link

Anti-SOA Circus Troupe

from my inbox:

Subject: SUPPORT CALL for Upcoming Anti-SOA Circus Troupe at UNCA, Nov 12

A GOOD EVENING TO ONE AND ALL!
In behalf of the Traveling Bonfires and UNCA's Students for a Democratic Society, I'd like to invite you to a very significant and urgent show on NOVEMBER 12, SUNDAY, 7pm at UNCA's Alumni Hall. The show is called "WHEN THE LEVEE BREAKS" by a touring group called CARDBOARD CHAOS (Uncle Sam's Little Global Circus). This is the Asheville leg of an annual East Coast tour to help shut down the US Army School of the Americas. It features a provocative mix of circus stunts, puppetry, political satire and original music. The show is FREE; donations collected at the show go to Cardboard Chaos' tour
fund.

Meantime, The Bonfires also requests any form of help or donation--little cash or spare change, extra accommodation to our visitors etc--to help us make this event a fulfilling, enjoyable and relevant community effort. You can either email me back or call Marta Osborne at 505 0476 for more info.

In case you want to see us, we will be at Pritchard Park this Saturday, OCT 28, from 4pm to 10pm--for The Bonfires' annual Halloween family dance-concert/gathering, "BONFIRES FOR VAMPIRES: Bonfires for Peace at Pritchard Park, Year 3." Touch Samadhi's family of DJs will be spinning records, and we will be giving out free gifts and goodies to kids. GRACIAS!

--Pasckie Pascua

Blissful Rituals

about blissful rituals
In the early winter of 2004, Blissful Rituals was created as an offering to the Asheville community. The focus of Blissful Rituals is to offer healing massage and body treatments using the purest substances available. Organic oils and happily harvested herbs are the ingredients in all massage and body treatments. All products used are without any chemical solvents or preservatives whatsoever. Using only natural substances for cleansing and rejuvenation sends strong positive messages to the mind, body, and spirit that we are in harmony with nature. Thus, we are honoring ourselves, each other and The Earth at the same time.

about lara narayani
In 1992, Narayani began to spiritually awaken when she started practicing Yoga and meditation. Realizing there was a higher calling to be discovered, she embarked on a journey to find her true work in the world. In 1997, she moved to New York to focus her studies on massage at The Swedish Institute for Massage Therapy. Staying focused on spiritual studies, she recieved certification as a Yoga Instructor through the Integral Yoga Institute in 1999. Narayani also has studied a variety of ancient healing practices, including: Kabbalah, Native American Sweat Lodge and Medicine Wheel Teachings, West African Dance, Soul-Point, Qi-Gong for enlightenment, Ayurveda, Both DONA and Wholistic Doula training in Asheville. Through practicing healing arts from various cultures, we tune into the simple laws of nature and realize that all life is connected and thus sacred. Inspired by this truth, Blissful Rituals was created as an offering to the Asheville community in 2004. In 2006, Narayani completeed an intensive training in Ayurvedic Beauty Treatments and hands on techniques at the well respected Ayurvedic Institute. She continues to learn and teach around the US to share the simplicity of healing.

link

Bonfires For Peace

Pritchard Park halloween trance party 10/28 - link

Yellow Door

yellow-door-grand-opening4w.jpg (JPEG Image, 367x576 pixels) - Scaled (94%)

technorati tags:asheville

Samhain Rite

What: Asheville's 12th Annual Free Public Witch Ritual -- theme: Creatures of the Night
When: Halloween, Tuesday, Oct. 31st from 8 p.m. "until"
Where: Unity Center of Christianity, 2041 Old Fanning Bridge Rd., Fletcher, NC at Oldenwilde.

This year's Samhain theme is Creatures of the Night, and thousands of costumed monsters, dark fairies, and sexy Witches are expected to descend on the Blue Ridge Mountain area. Features include a kids' Creepy Carnival, a maze trance dance for adults, Witchy music spun by The Poles bandmember Eli Jeremiah, balefires, fire-spinning, and local dance troupes Baraka Mundi and the Asheville Movement Collective.

"Folks of all ages and faiths are welcome to thrill to the beauty of the night with us and work magic so everyone will thrive till Spring," Lady Passion concludes.

Samhain XII flyer and a map to the Unity site are at: oldenwilde.org
Lady Passion and *Diuvei may be reached at: (828) 251-0343.

Asheville Purple Pages

A G,L,B,& T friendly directory.


link

Guerrilla Art School

Black Gum College allegedly existed in or around Old Fort, North Carolina during 1972-3. The surviving mission statement of this guerrilla Art School claims that its purpose was "to inject ooze into society so that art can exist in this constrictive culture."

According to legend, students were "recruited" then led blind-folded to "the campus," a forest clearing where they were given workshops in energy transference, witchcraft, and juice drawing. Students were warned against disclosing the college's location or going public with details concerning their education. No one has yet come forth as a former student. Read more»»

Recent drawings by Steve Brown and the final performance of the black ooze

Reception 7- 11 pm October 13th 2006
Performance some time after 9 pm October 13th 2006
Harvest Records · 415-b Haywood Rd · Asheville · NC · 28806
harvestrecords@gmail.com
828 258 2999

So far I cannot find one thing on the internet about this art school.

Great God Pan

Madman or Seer?

Saturday, September 30, Noon-1 PM

Judge today as Virato probes the mind of Michael Sunanda. A student of the late Buckminster Fuller, Sunanda claims special awareness of the earth's energy systems. He says that sun cycles are impacting the Earth's climate, and that the sun is radiating several times more energy than it has in the past and it is still peaking. Sunanda says NASA is well aware of the sun's increased activity, but is keeping this information from the public.

Paranoia or fact?

Sunanda who lives in Eugene, Oregon, says solar energy is being absorbed by Earth's magnetic field and pumped inside the planet, greatly intensifying underwater volcanic activity. The lava churned out by the undersea volcanoes is heating the oceans that affects the planet's climate, he says.

VIRATO LIVE! 880 AM, Asheville, Studio 828-252-4348, Office 828-254-6620

Tree Huggers Still Missing Bill

You've heard of the Princeton Review's 2007 "Best 361 Colleges" Rankings, right? It's been in the news this week. The party schools. The stone-cold sober schools. Asheville area college, Warren Wilson, also made some of those lists. Check it out.

#1 - Reefer Madness - Parties
#15 - Most Politically Active - Politics
#1 - Students Most Nostalgic For Bill Clinton - Politics
#14 - Most Beautiful Campus - Quality of Life
#3 - Birkenstock-Wearing, Tree-Hugging, Clove-Smoking Vegetarians - School Type

link (reg req'd)

Area Tailgate Markets

Black Mountain Tailgate Market, in the grassy area behind SunTrust Bank, off Highway 9, near Exit 64 from Interstate 40, with parking at bank.

When: 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays

Fresh this week: Corn, garlic, fennel, tomatoes, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, local honey, green beans and more

Downtown Tailgate Market, 76 Biltmore Ave., next to the French Broad Food Co-op, Asheville

When: Twice a week: 3 to 6 p.m. Wednesdays and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays

Fresh this week: On Wednesday, tomatoes, beans, raspberries, greens, peppers and more. On Saturday, blackberries, tomatoes, local honey and goat cheese, fennel, tomatoes and more.

Greenlife tailgate markets, grassy area to the left of the store parking lot, off Merrimon Avenue near downtown Asheville

When: Three times a week: 2 to 6 p.m. Wednesdays: 2 to 5 p.m. Fridays and 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays.

Fresh this week: On Wednesday, blackberries, tomatoes, local goat cheese, greens and fresh fish, scallops and shrimp from the coast. On Friday, shiitake mushrooms, potatoes, greens and more.

North Asheville Tailgate Market, in the parking lot behind Asheville Pizza and Brewing Co., 675 Merrimon Ave., Asheville

When: 7 a.m. to noon Saturdays

Fresh this week: Corn, beans, blueberries and blackberries, local honey and goat cheese, potatoes, tomatoes and more

West Asheville Tailgate Market, on the grassy area at the rear of the parking lot for West End Bakery off Haywood Road, West Asheville

When: 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays

Fresh this week: Corn, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, local goat cheese, honey and eggs, green beans, tomatoes and more

Asheville Sunset

Asheville Sunset
Originally uploaded by benpierce.

Zowee! What an amazing photo of beautiful Asheville, NC.

Downtown Get Down

Pritchard Park

People watching April 25, 2006, at Pritchard Park in downtown Asheville. (I found this photo at Flickr.)Sometimes there are bands playing, street musicians, jugglers, and on Friday nights a drum circle until 11:00.

Asheville Calling

You've been drawn to Asheville. Compelled to move here. What's your story?

When you live around here you hear about the vortex that draws people here and the individual stories of people who were either drawn here or visited and never left.

I AM Gathering

Asheville has always been an artist's haven. In fact there's an important art school nearby called Penland School for the Arts. This weekend The First I AM Gathering & Art-Luck was held, featuring Glossolalia's CD Release Party. I AM (stands for Intuitive Arts Multimedia) is an online gallery and artist’s community committed to a vision of the healing and awakening of human consciousness through art. We aim to help artists in a variety of mediums to realize their full creative potential by providing promotional tools, networking, e-commerce, and other technical assistance as well as by facilitating collaboration with fellow artists.

Bonfires for Peace

TOUCH Samadhi in Pritchard Park

Saturday April 15, 2006, 3pm to 10pm at Pritchard Park in Downtown Asheville, NC, Featuring members of Touch Samadhi.

Shapestatic
Kri
Oso
Medisin
Blue Spectral Monkey

Other Bonfires for Peace dates: May 6, June 10, July 1, August 5, Sept 2. For more details, email pasckie@yahoo.com or call Marta Osborne at (828) 505 0290.

The Traveling Bonfires roam the country, instigating arts and music events, bringing people together for global peace and multicultural community connected-ness.

Shimshai

Shimshai is playing at Namaste Asheville on Friday, April 28. You can hear some of his music here on CDBaby. Quite soothing.

Tranzmission

Mission Statement:
Tranzmission is dedicated to ending socially-enforced non-consensual gender tyranny.

Who We Are:
Tranzmission is a group of folks, trans, queer and othewise who meet weekly to address issues we find relevant to our lives and to have fun!!!

Join Us:
Come to our meetings on Tuesdays at 7:30pm at the ACRC - 135 Hilliard Lane Asheville, NC. Or check out our Get Involved section to see how you can help!

Tranzmission is back with a renewed website and off to a great start. It's still under construction but already has a lot of info to offer.

Link

WeBeHigh.com

WeBeHigh.com - Worldwide Marijuana Travel Guide With Marijuana Prices, Spots & Legalization Status

Asheville

Smoking tolerance level: 4.75

Legislation: Possession of one half ounce or less is punishable by up to 30 days in jail, most likely suspended. Possession of greater than one half ounce is punishable by 1 - 120 days in jail, with a possibility of community service or probation in lieu of jail. Possession greater than 1.5 ounces increases the penalties to 8 - 13 months in jail.

Penalties for sale, delivery or manufacture are increased if the sale occurs within 300 feet of a school zone if the offender is over 21 and if the sale was made to a minor or to a pregnant woman.

The state allows conditional release or alternative or diversion sentencing for people facing their first prosecutions. Usually, conditional release lets a person opt for probation rather than trial. After successfully completing probation, the individual's criminal record does not reflect the charge.

Law enforcement: Totally anti-drug, will throw you at the wall for a nick.

Where to buy marijuana in Ashville: Shilo area, on Shiloh Rd., and Brooklyn Rd.

We Be High in ASHEVILLE

Any Way You Like It

Any Way You Like It - Visitors tell us this is a destination that is welcoming, vibrant and natural—the kind of place you visit for a memorable, enriching experience that is unexpected and unscripted. Show us your version of one of those moments by entering the "Any Way You Like It" video contest. Who knows? Your video could turn into the next ad in our unscripted TV campaign, and you could win a free Asheville area vacation. So get out there and show us your version of an unscripted Asheville moment the way you like it. Lights! Camera! Asheville!

View some of the current print and tv ads currently running here.

#1 Asheville, North Carolina

more veggie news

Like your vegetarian fare served with fresh, clean mountain air? Then awesome little Asheville is the place for you. Nestled between two mountain ranges, Asheville is an open-minded mecca for eclectic and artistic people who are active in all creative avenues. Luckily, Asheville is as humane as it is hip, with a huge assortment of vegetarian-friendly restaurants, coffee shops, bakeries, and markets.

America's Best Vegetarian-Friendly Small Cities

1. Asheville, North Carolina
2. Eugene, Oregon
3. Salt Lake City, Utah
4. Norfolk, Virginia
5. Santa Monica, California
6. Santa Cruz, California
7. Boulder, Colorado
8. Madison, Wisconsin
9. Athens, Georgia
10.Ann Arbor, Michigan

Link

Veg-In-Out

New Menu

Link

Center of Unlimited Possibilities

The goal of C.U.P. is to enable members to achieve their highest potential on all levels of being; the physical, mental, intuitive, and spiritual. It is in this attainment that one secures the deepest and most all-embracing sense of peace and harmony with self and all of creation. We believe that at the highest level of human potential, miracles become ordinary. The center is a place of inspiration and support of evolutionary achievements. An empowered space where new boundries, paradigms, and beliefs are created. The time for a major shift has arrived and all are invited to participate.

Today C.U.P. is in the early stages of creation. We have found a central Asheville location for preliminary core member meetings to prepare for a Grand Opening in the Spring of 2006. These meetings will be every other Wednesday from 6:30-9pm starting February and onward. This is the time to get involved and assist in creating the most inspirational gathering center ever. All input will be welcome. Every Wednesday's meeting will also have an "all you can eat" vegetarian dinner.

Link

Croatan Event

CROATAN

April 21-23rd, 2006

Dr. Dennis McKenna will be talking about his updated research into Ayahuasca and will also be speaking at Malaprops in Asheville,NC, on the 22nd too. His main lecture will be later in the evening back at the Croatan site.

Lectures:
Dennis McKenna will be talking about his updated research into Ayahuasca
Michael Crowley
Sun Frog
Esiris Kayab Lyons
Adam Sanderson
Shad Marquitz

Music:
CX-1 Bluegrass Boys
(Members of Acoustic Syndicate and Snake Oil Medicine Show)

Caroline Pond
(Vassar Clemens, Snake Oil Medicine Show, Mad Tea Party)


Androcell live* Celestial Dragon Recordings, Arizona
Alien Blue Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, NYC
Quetzatl -live electronics Radical Turf Records, Asheville
Glossolalia *live* Intuitive Arts Multimedia
Logos - *live* Intuitive Arts Multimedia
Nod & BrainLizzard TOUCH samadhi, Asheville
Blue Spectral Monkey - Interchill, Asheville
Medisin TOUCH samadhi, Asheville
Kri - TOUCH samadhi, Asheville
Shad - TOUCH samadhi, Nashville
Iduna - TOUCH samadhi, Asheville
KT - independent
Joshu - Evoke Community, Asheville
Jeremie - Evoke Community, Asheville


Art:
artwork by Alex Grey
Eli Morgan, NYC www.psythos.com
Marisa Scirocco, NYC www.alienblue.com
Intuitive Arts Multimedia www.ICreateIam.com
Devotee Touch Samadhi
and more Asheville and East TN artists

Opening Ceremony: by Sakkred Circle

No Alcohol or Pets (no exceptions - period)
Leave No Trace event - please carpool
Rides available from airport - please contact us
Directions will be mailed with tickets
Video taping with mailed permission only
Food on site - provided by Bearly Edible

Tickets are $50 for the weekend ($3.00 S/H)
due to land impact, no day passes.
Buy @ www.harmonywerx.org

Dream Home Giveaway

This year, Home and Garden Television picked western NC's Lake Lure for their 2006 Dream Home Giveaway; which is worth more than 2 million dollars. Beautiful place with picturesque views, but some of the natives are restless.
Link

Asheville Webcams

This site contains many great live North Carolina webcams. You will find many for the Asheville and western NC area as well as other NC mountain, central and coastal cams. If you have a webcam link to add, send it to them.
Link - via blogasheville, which is always great fun to visit.

Asheville Fringe Festival

The Asheville Fringe Festival is ready to let it's freak flags fly again. Or so goes the blip on the article. It begins Thursday, January 26, 2006, and runs thru the weekend.

In a city like Asheville, NC, there is uber potential for a balls to the wall, kick out the jams Fringe Festival. Honestly, it hasn't picked up enough steam as I'd hoped. Perhaps they're trying to maintain too much class.

For starters, feature some great drag shows. Is the gay community even involved in it? Calling all talented heatherns, gay and straight. Somebody show them how it's done.

Link

Asheville Craig's List!

Looking for a job? A place to live? Or something a little more personal? Asheville is now part of the ever growing community of Craig's List.

Just what is Craigs's List? Local community classifieds and forums - a place to find jobs, housing, goods & services, social activities, a girlfriend or boyfriend, advice, community information, and just about anything else -- all for free, and in a relatively non-commercial environment.

Craig's List started in early 1995, by Craig Newmark, in San Francisco, California.

Visit Asheville Craig's List