3) Cowboy Mouth "Fearless" (Music)
I first experienced Cowboy Mouth last summer at the Bele Chere music festival in Asheville. I was familiar but besides "Jenny Says" I didn't know much about them. Well, turns out they are one of the most amazing things to see live. The drummer is also the lead singer so he is at the front of the stage and is exceptionally animated and really gets the audience into the show. There is nothing like seeing Cowboy Mouth live. That being said, the new album is very very good. In an almost Frank Zappa sort of way, they have a particular sense of the absurd in their song writing. There is a catchy tune about Kelly Rippa, for instance. Another favorite is "Belly", and anthem for all the not-so-skinny girls out there. There are some more straight ahead rock songs like "I Believe" and there is a touching song the lead singer wrote about his mother when she was dying called "Maureen". I do highly recommend this CD, especially if you are already a fan. If you have never heard them before, what I would really recommend is going to see a live show.

4) "Healing Appalachia: Sustainable Living Through Appropriate Technology" by Al Fritsch and Paul Gallimore
I had found this book a while ago and asked for it for Christmas. I thought that it would be very useful in building our Tumblweed Tiny House on our little piece of the Smokey Mountains. For the most part, the book was very good. It was very well researched and organized and offered a lot of affordable suggestions. I did get a little turned off at times when the authors became a little "Greenvangelical"*, but I could deal with it in the context of their subject. I marked several things that I thought would be of particular use for us in Asheville. These include building an Elbow Torch Stove, planting American Chestnuts, growing herbs native to the region, creating an artificial wetland to handle gray water, and Yurts (a favorite of oneandonlymatt. There is also a section on putting in an attic vent, something I think would be most useful in our tumbleweed house. If you are anywhere near the Appalachian Mountains and want to find out more about using appropriate technology to live sustainably, this is a great resource for you.

*I think I just made that word up.