A table in a top-secret location in Asheville is covered with catalogs, flyers, letters and notebooks stretching back to before the space-age 1950s. There are photos, magazine articles and pages filled to the margins with symbols translatable only by those versed in electronics. But in these symbols, doodles and names scratched out in pen are […]
Year: 2009
Showing 1723-1743 of 2958 results
“This isn’t Oklahoma”
Will a production of The Who’s Tommy, the staged rock opera based on the album of the same name, bring about a resurgence of pinball wizards and boardwalk-style arcades lined with the chiming, flashing games? Tommy can you hear me? Get the 60s sonic experience at the Asheville Arts Center show. Photo by Jonathan Welch. […]
Building a better block party
Back in the day, a couple traffic barricades, a boom box and a barbeque equaled a fete fit for an entire neighborhood. Asheville’s historic Montford neighborhood—the tree-lined clutch of homes and businesses just north of downtown—has been capitalizing on that very concept for the past five years, turning a meet-your-neighbors gathering into a celebration of […]
What you’re smellin’ is what we’re sellin’
I have a possibly unhealthy relationship with Smiley’s Flea Market. Like fast food or smoking, Smiley’s is tough to quit if you get the habit. I’ll forego doing smart research on how to spend my weekend junk excursions, because I’d rather hit Smiley’s. And even though I’ll often leave with barely enough stuff to make […]
Guess who’s sharing the stage with the Rangers?
How’s this for a double bill? The risen-from-Asheville-to-bluegrass-stardom Steep Canyon Rangers and Steve Martin. They shared the stage over the weekend at L.A.‘s Club Nokia at a benefit for the city’s public libraries. And they’ll be playing again at three sold-out shows later this month at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City. […]
Weekly Asheville Disclaimer Page: 05/13/09
• WNC Bears
• Animal advocacy group
• Briefs
• Madison Co. drug bust
Take living wage to next level
Hats off to the city of Asheville for recognizing the importance of paying city staff a living wage! They made it happen for employees in 2007, so it only seems appropriate that they [now] extend that courtesy to those folks who do contract work with the city. A living wage [requirement] for city contractors will […]
Like a fish to water
Eating sushi wasn’t high on Eric Wright’s life list. As new experiences go, sitting down to a dish of “bait” probably fell somewhere between capsizing a canoe and being hit in the head with a foul ball. “Eating sushi was out of the question,” Wright recalls. Sushi club: A group of Southeastern Container employees makes […]
The Dirt: Tales of a transplant
Folks today dig in dirt because they like to. Sure, plenty of small growers raise flowers and vegetables, hawking their yields at seasonal markets. But most backyard gardeners do it for relaxation, love of nature, tradition or some hybrid thereof. Can you dig it? Jim McGee pauses a moment to praise a lowly earthworm before […]
Retract “Pigdemic”
I believe you made a grave editorial error in agreeing to publish Molton’s cartoon [“Pigdemic”] featured in the May 6 edition of your paper. The cartoon is bigoted. Hinging a commentary using uncreative, overplayed and unrealistic stereotypes is not admirable. But printing it? It’s as if you are endorsing ignorance. I can’t imagine that you […]
Hypocrisy on hillbillies
Commentator Betty Cloer Wallace opines that “Debilitating hillbilly stereotypes resound internationally and hurt us … both personally and economically” [“Fighting Back,” Commentary, May 6]. Obviously, the Xpress editors were not listening, as the Molton cartoon only two pages before implies that a rural WNC resident named Bubba has conjugal relations with his swine [“Pigdemic,” May […]
New online-calendar format helpful
I want to say that I really appreciate the format of your online community-events calendar. The events calendar in print is wonderful, but for someone like me, it can be a little overwhelming. It is immensely helpful to be able to find specific events by the day, week or month. Thank you, and keep the […]
Betraying the species
The May 6 Edgy Mama column, “Chicken Education,” is another fine example of speciesism. Anne Fitten Glenn’s feeble attempt at humor falls very flat here, simply because she degrades a species [whose members] she doesn’t particularly care for unless they’re dead, cooked and lying on her plate. It may be that chickens, with their “beady […]
Small Bites
Posana: The team behind Posana Café is as interested in what comes out of the new downtown eatery as what goes into it (in this case, the usual Asheville-sanctioned mix of fair-trade, organic and gluten-free food and drink). Photo by Jonathan Welch “For about two years, we were playing around with the idea of a […]
Conscience vs. commerce
This economic downturn has me turned down in more ways than one. To paraphrase Thomas Paine, it’s times like these that try men’s and women’s souls—and pocketbooks. The dollar part is clear: Everything’s going up, from food to fuel. But what’s most difficult is reconciling ethical buying practices with what’s in my wallet. I’ve always […]
McCarthyism
Asheville People’s Market coming to Lexington Avenue
Rosetta Star announces formation of Sunday flea-market style market
Outdoors: This outdoor life
Not all Gen-Xers take years to figure out what they want to do with their lives. Tobias Miller, now 36, has known since high school that he wanted to work outdoors. As South District maintenance-worker supervisor for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Miller got his wish. He’s responsible for the entire North Carolina side […]
Waiting for a chess match
EPA will oversee coal ash removal at Tennessee plant
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will oversee the removal of coal ash at the TVA Kingston Fossil Fuel Plant in Roane County, Tenn., where approximately 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash spilled last December. In related news, a coal-ash pond at an Asheville power plant is on a list of potentially dangerous storage ponds, according to a report released by two environmental groups.
Weekly Reeler: Movie Talk for May 13-19
I’m locked in a race with the upcoming release of Ron Howard’s Angels & Demons this week to see if I can finish reading the book by Dan Brown before I see the film. Last time Howard tackled a Dan Brown opus with The DaVinci Code, I tried the other approach, and read the book after having seen the film.