Benjamin Miller, a hair stylist at LOX Salon in the Old City, believes that a strong sense of confidence can begin with a good look.

Jimmy Haslam says he don't know nothin'.

Highlights of the week ahead: May 23-May 29

Donna Nelson wants to hit the Strip in Las Vegas.

For decades, Knoxville hailed itself as the Gateway to the Smokies. Not many cities identify themselves by wonders that are an hour’s drive away, but the practice offers obvious advantages. It doesn’t cost anything, doesn’t cause traffic or parking tie-ups in town, and if something goes wrong, it’s never our fault. But lately, that mindset’s been changing. Hikers, mountain bikers, kayakers, fishermen, and other outdoorsy sorts have found many opportunities close by—even, as crazy as it sometimes seems, within city limits. Photographer David Luttrell explores our new urban wilderness.

Someone does not like KUB very much.

Knox County Commissioner Jeff Ownby has regrets.

Highlights of the week ahead: May 16-May 19

David Thompson wants you to be less embarrassed.

Nic Arning is part of a committee raising funds for a universal playground to be built at Lakeshore Park in memory of 3-year-old Knoxville Youth Sports tee-ball player Hank Rappe. Hank, the son of Dr. Matt and Brandy Rappe, passed away in his sleep April 5, two nights before his very first tee-ball game at KYS.

That Upstream Color even exists represents both a triumph and a rebuke to the mainstream film-production system that couldn’t spring for a work this daring and, for all its polish, most likely inexpensive.

He’s maybe not as familiar by sight as some of Knoxville's other jazz players, but judging by the crowds he draws around the world, and the prominent discs that have featured his saxophone, Greg Tardy is one of the most accomplished musicians in Knoxville.

Wesley Wyrick’s debut album, Second Nature, certainly isn’t an easy listen. It’s a psychedelic collage more than a collection of songs—10 eerie tracks built on left-field samples, electronic spasms, and droning, lo-fi synths.

Knoxville icon Todd Steed’s new album, Songs on a Stick, is a collaboration between Steed and his old friend Owen Davis. The songs were all written while Steed and Davis were in China, where they taught last summer.

Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby has quite a bit going for it: an epic soundtrack; eye-popping art direction; a titanic-sized (or Titanic-sized) budget, courtesy of co-producer Jay-Z; a number of radiant performances; and source material from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Great American Novel. It also kinda sucks.

In this era where everyone who Instagrams his lunch and posts it on Tumblr fancies himself a food writer, Francis Lam is the real deal.

Over the course of a decade, under the name JEFF the Brotherhood, Nashville brothers Jake and Jamin Orrall released six albums of fuzzy, tone-deaf stoner-pop, full of blistering punk-pop riffs and hungover power-pop melodies. Their goal? Pay the rent and hopefully tuck away some booze money. But even if they weren’t aiming high with their commercial dreams, their music managed to turn a lot of famous heads—including the suits at Warner Bros., who released the band’s major-label debut, Hypnotic Nights, in 2012.

Good design is sometimes invisible—if something is designed well, you might never even notice just how useful/elegant/informative it is, especially if you’re not a designer. So AIGA Knoxville’s third annual Design Week, scheduled for May 13-17, is a good opportunity for local designers to get the credit and attention they deserve, as well as a chance for non-professionals to think about what designers do, and how they do it, and why.

When George Jones died on April 26, he also got a pass into an exclusive club: that small handful of famous performers whose final concerts happened in Knoxville.

From Up on Poppy Hill is a fine film. But it’s not a great one.

Paul Schaefer: "Are the Haslams and the Ewings related?"

Chett Peebles: "We should rarely feel threatened by the homeless that roam the streets downtown."

In the city I grew up in, the motto was “That’ll do.” Anybody who tried to achieve something that stood out for its quality or individuality, whether it was a building or a plate of food, was just putting on airs and spoiling the curve for everybody else. Knoxville was, by definition, a plenty comfortable enough place to sit and wait for Glory.

Collecting thrift-store musical jetsam has allowed me to learn a great deal about life in the 1960s.

But do we serve anything worth waiting in line for? Something that we’d say, “When you’re in Knoxville, you just have to try a ___”?

Buffalo John works in the cubicle next to mine. He’s built like a Navy SEAL and is frequently leered at by the cougar down the hall. I adopted him as my younger brother on the same day we met Gov. Bill Haslam.

Doyle: Thanks to all—Ms. Piper, Mr. Turczyn, and audience members—for deepening my experience of community. Thanks to each of you for helping Literary Rounds grow.

Babb: Knoxville has a long history of killing popular festivals.

Manter: Should we infer that the Public Building Authority that runs the park is feuding with someone at the opera or the city or both?

For all the entrepreneurial economic development that’s revitalized downtown Knoxville since the turn of the century, about the only new buildings to go up have emanated from the public sector.

In addition to our Restaurant Guide, Bar Guide and Band Guide, Metro Pulse staff work throughout the year to provide in-depth coverage of Really Good Things to Know About Knoxville. How to be a good and happy cyclist in town? Got you covered. Want to give your dollars to local holistic health providers in town? We'll point you in the right direction. We've collected our Guides to Knoxville in one place for easy perusal.

So what's really "best" about Knoxville?

You can't really point to any one aspect—it's a confluence of all the things we experience here from day to day. And that's why we have so many categories in the Best of Knoxville—this year more than ever as we've added health and home sections. When we launched our readers poll in 1994, life in Knoxville was pretty self-contained. Things were easy to keep track of here. Now there are an overwhelming number of restaurants, businesses, services, events, and arts and entertainment venues clamoring for our attention. Which makes you and your fellow readers' opinions of what's "best" all the more important—here are the things that truly make life better in Knoxville circa 2012. — Coury Turczyn, ed.

This is it: The one true Best of Knoxville. Read more and see the winners >>

Peruse our previous Best of Knoxville winners.

Finally, you can read Metro Pulse's restaurant guide Yummm! online. We will continue to add our special publications, so stay tuned...

Tips, Shortcuts, Pointers, Advice, and the Straight Dope on Making Life Easier for Yourself in the Marble City Read the Metro Pulse Insider's Guide to Knoxville >> And here's Volume 2.

A Resource Guide to Outdoorsy Activity in the Knoxville Area Read the Metro Pulse Outdoors Guide >>

Read the 2013 Knoxville City Guide >>

Download the Drinking Guide Flowchart (PDF) >>

May is National Bike Month, and Metro Pulse is celebrating by giving over most of this issue to bikes and bicyclists. Meet Kelley Segars, your regional transportation planner and bicycling advocate. Meet Elle Colquitt and Jon Livengood, who have sniffed out the best bike routes around Knoxville ... and share their favorites here. Get some air with Corey McPherson, closet BMX-er and ace photographer (and Metro Pulse designer). And meet your many fellow bicyclists and local bike-sellers through our handy list of bicyclists' resources—everything from off-road routes to clubs to shops to upcoming events to rules of the road. Read the Metro Pulse Bike Guide >>

Want to start feeling healthier but don't know where to start? Or are you a gym veteran who wants to take it up a notch? Find out what services the Knoxville area has to offer you for Holistic Health, Eating Well, Fitness & Feeling Good, and Mental Health. Read PEP!—the Metro Pulse Good-Health Guide >>

Mine our Earth Day coverage for what global warming means for the Smoky Mountains, how some Knoxvillians are working their own plot of land at Beardsley Community Farm, and local green living tips. Read the complete Earth Day coverage >>

You can never start planning to early, right? Mine our 2011 Valentine's Day Gift Guide and Christmas Guides (for him and for her) to start planning for your next gift-giving occasion.

Written and edited by local riders, Handlebars covers the full range of motorcycling: touring, sport, cruisers, vintage, dirt, and more. We'll tell you about the people, places, and events that make the area's motorcycle scenes so unique, and we'll give you the scoop on interesting new bikes coming onto the market. Handlebars aims to bring you the best of East Tennessee motorcycling. Check out fromthehandlebars.com >>