Well, hello there.
Welcome to Wednesday and another addition of Devour, simple recipes for hungry dudes {or ladies if they are into it}.
Everybody likes buffalo chicken wings, but what’s the one thing about a chicken wing that makes you sad? They are too small, I know. So, why not use a drumstick? Everyone love a drumstick. They are nice and meaty and easy to hold onto. Why did no one think of this before? {they did}
Posted in Food & Drink, kyle.
The following was originally posted on my previous travel blog VoteForKyle.com, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about lately and I felt it was worth sharing. I’ve made a few edits and updates, but the meaning remains the same.
Lately I’ve wanted to get out to a few more shows in town. This is something that I used to enjoy doing a lot but I haven’t been able to do as much recently due to my work schedule. So I made a goal for myself to see at least one show a month and I feel like that’s attainable. One that I’m excited about later this month is Joshua James at the Grey Eagle, but today I wanted to share my review of a local band that recently played at the Lexington Avenue Brewery called Dem Nugget Boys.
Dem Nugget Boys is one of the best acts floating around Asheville. Formed in 2012 by college friends Justin Neese and Devin Entmacher, DNB is best described as a satirical rap group. I know what you’re probably thinking; “How could these guys be any good? Clearly they are two white guys in thrift store clothes from Asheville.” And to that I would respond, “Get with the times. It’s 2013 and one of the most popular songs on the radio is called Thrift Shop and it’s by a white guy from Seattle.”
According to Justin Neese, though, DNB thrives on these low expectations. “People don’t know what to expect,” he says. “They see two white guys with a silly rap name and they don’t expect much. But then we come out, drop some beats, and get people excited. By the end of the show the energy in the room is usually off the charts.”
Neese and Entmacher are brilliant in this way. They read the crowd well and work the energy in the room. Neese’s description above is spot on with my experience with the band. I really didn’t know quite what to think before going to the show. I was primarily there to support some friends and didn’t have high hopes for the bands that were playing, but by the end of the show I was definitely a DNB fan.
Lyrically these guys can be compared to Lonely Island. They use that same sort of clever silliness but give it a uniquely Asheville twist. One of my favorite songs of the night was Asheville State of Mind, which, as you might guess, is a parody of Jay-Z’s popular Empire State of Mind. Some sample lyrics include:
DE: “And you know the tourists come in the fall to see the leaves”
JN: “Pretty trees mother$&#@*s”
DE: “Yeah, gets real colorful up in this b!$%*…”
But even if you’re not from Asheville you can appreciate the well-crafted rhymes and methodical beats of DNB. They seem to draw influences from a wide variety of sources ranging from the Libyan revolution to Dunder-Mifflin to farmers’ markets – and that’s just one song.
Unfortunately, Dem Nugget Boys won’t be playing another show in Asheville for a while. Co-founder Devin Entmacher recently relocated to Los Angeles to pursue other interests, but the band is not necessarily done. According to Neese, the two remain in close contact and plan to collaborate more in the future.
In the meantime, you can get your DNB fix via their Myspace page. Plus, you can catch Neese’s other project, SEXY {with local stand-up artist Taylor Rogers}, playing several shows around town this spring.
Until next time.
Posted in Entertainment, Happenings, kyle., Local Love, Reviews
Last week Tyler decided to compile a list of all the new restaurants opening up in Asheville in the coming months. I was pretty impressed with that post and didn’t even know about a few of the ones he shared, so this week I thought I would do the same with the new breweries that are coming soon. I hope you enjoy!
Posted in Food & Drink, Happenings, kyle.
You may have noticed that I’ve been MIA for the last few weeks. This hasn’t been intentional. Each week I’ve sat down to write a blog and each week I have just been stumped. Call it Writers’ Block or whatever… ultimately, I’ve just been really stressed out.
{not this MIA}
There are a lot of factors to this stress, but the main thing I’ve come to realize is that sometimes I just need to be alone. I’ve always known this about myself, but occasionally I forget. I’m an introvert who strongly values spending time with other people. A lot of things in my life are paradoxical.
Posted in House Tour, kyle., Thoughts
Growing up I was always a reader. I was the kind of person who would read three or four books at a time just for fun. For the most part, I never minded reading for school, though my senior year at UNCW was pretty intense. However, in 2012, I’m not sure if I finished a single book. I don’t know what changed, but every time I started something I would just feel bogged down and unable to really focus on the words. This year I resolved to read again.
For Christmas I received a gift card for Barnes & Noble and went book shopping {one of the only kinds of shopping I really enjoy}. I didn’t really have anything in mind, so I just wandered aimlessly through the store. In the past I’ve always been the kind of person who reads really heavy stuff like The Paradox of NC Politics or Voices of Protest: Documents of Courage and Dissent. Since I’ve been struggling with finishing anything recently, I decided that maybe I should look for something a little lighter to get back into the habit of reading.
Posted in Entertainment, kyle., Reviews
The last time I did one of these grumbling posts, I may not have sufficiently introduced the concept. This is going to be a regular feature on the blog. Amongst friends I am commonly referred to as a grumpy, old man. It was decided that I should share some of my grumpy, old man rantings with the world. This new Grumbles category on the blog is that.
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If you read my last post, you’ll know that I have been without health insurance for some time. That being said I had not been to the eye doctor in several years and hadn’t had new glasses in almost five. The glasses that I have been wearing were in shambles and had been superglued back together in several places, but not ever wanting to shell out $150 to go to the optometrist I just didn’t bother trying to get new ones. {For those of you with perfect vision, you should know that you cannot get a new pair of glasses without an up to date prescription - which is a grumble for another day.} Continue reading
Over the past week I’ve been kind of sick. At work, they’ve started calling me Patient Zero, because I’ve infected nearly all of my co-workers. It was a pretty decent bug that knocked me out for several days. I think really it was just a bad cold coupled with a sinus infection.
As far as the cold is concerned, I would normally just drink a lot of DayQuil and wait it out, however, I’ve had plenty of sinus infections before and I know that the only way to truly get rid of one is to go to the doctor for some antibiotics. Now, this presents a problem for me because I do not have health insurance.
New Year’s Day has always been one of my favorite holidays. We always just hung out with family and friends, cooked a traditional New Year’s day meal, and relaxed. I know that technically nothing changes – it’s just another day – but it always feels like a fresh start. Life is a cycle, and with each year it begins again.
{Greens for prosperity, black eyed peas for luck, pork for health, peaches for peace}
A few years ago when Sarajane and I were new to Couchsurfing we got a request from a band that was touring through Wilmington. They wrote a pretty cool message about using Couchsurfing on their tour so that they could meet and connect with people instead of spending their nights in hotel rooms. I hadn’t heard of them at the time, so I looked them up and instantly became a fan.
At that point, Joshua James had recently released his album – Build Me This. The band crashed at our house and got us into the show at the Soapbox. It was an awesome show and they were great house guests. I’ve been a huge fan ever since.
Posted in Entertainment, kyle., Reviews
