Author: Webmaster
Showing 6952-6972 of 9872 results
Thinking inside the box
Most of us start gardening because we like plants or fall in love with flowers. So we go to a nursery and buy whatever’s blooming that will fit into our vehicles and budgets. Once home, we try to fit our purchases into the garden, and the next week when the weather is fine, we repeat […]
Letters to the editor
Quit picking on the circus I recently read the article “The Elephant in the Room” [May 31 Xpress] and was very disturbed by it. I am sick of hearing about people going overboard about circuses. Yes, there should definitely be ethical treatment of animals, but there should also be entertainment. Just because people are “not […]
A heritage of reading
Some people say life is a series of coincidences. Others say there are no coincidences at all. But any way you look at it, our lives are intricately connected by shared experiences — including the act of reading. Back in February, Rob Neufeld, the enthusiastic director of Together We Read, invited me to join him […]
Thinking like a fish
The author on the North Mills. Photo by Jim Kransberger At about 5 p.m. the trout started feeding like sharks at a surf party. I was standing on the gravel shore of a remote stretch of the North Mills River, at the base of a deep canyon. The air was thick with bugs — mostly […]
Tracking the lavender leopard
There was something amiss about local musician Seth Kauffman. His March press release was lousy with praise. His first album, the lo-fi Ting, had just made waves on the CMJ chart in March 2006, debuting in the Top 10. The comparisons spilled over the page: “Early Wailers,” “Beck meets the Delta,” and even “Wilson Pickett […]
Earful
CD reviews Jen and the Juice, Meet the Hooligans of Bohemia: Four Stars • Genre(s): Funk, swing, jazz, singer/songwriter • You’ll like it if: You lack the Neanderthal gene that disregards music celebrating independent womanhood • Defining song: “Butt Sweat and Beer” — The title alone deserves recognition. Be forewarned: Despite the deep grooves, a […]
Cartoons
Letters to the editor
Guess who’s paying the price Let’s set the record straight. Wally Bowen and [your] article [“Cable vs. Community,” May 17] would have your readers believe that Buncombe County and the city of Asheville have negotiated franchise agreements which make only Charter Communications pay for the start-up costs and the ongoing support of public, education and […]
The virtual classroom
The recent announcement by Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue that an executive director has been hired to head up NC Virtual, an online high school, is a resounding victory for all stakeholders in our state’s educational system. North Carolina’s students should not be penalized for things they can’t control, such as geographic location, disparities in funding […]
Letters to the editor
The larger lessons of Lazarus As a response to Mr. Deile’s letter [“The Plight of the Homeless Cannot Wait,” May 10], I do have to admit that I was amazed that such a knowledgeable person (based on his dialogue, computer savvy, knowledge of current events and political influence) was standing on an interstate off-ramp with […]
Let’s save Richmond Hill Park
Friday, May 5: They started cutting the new road into Richmond Hill Park today. It’s painful to watch something so precious and valuable cleared away so quickly, trees piled up like so many corpses withering in the sun. It breaks my heart, but I can’t just turn my back on such a unique and beautiful […]
Over the Hedge
As a gleeful Dad said to me after a Saturday afternoon screening of Over the Hedge, “That was one cute movie! ” Very cute. Lovable characters, wildly original slapstick routines, tearful heart tuggings, and most surprisingly, life-or-death dilemmas and environmental messages that will withstand repeated at-home viewings. While it doesn’t attain the mythic appeal of […]
Earful
CD reviews Mountain Music Machine, The Human Condition, Featuring Glen Lawson (MMM): Four Stars • Genre(s): Bluegrass/mountain music. • You’ll like it if: You don’t mind owning a stellar picking CD with no hope of a subsequent tour. • Defining song: “Thinkin’ and Drinkin’” — Lawson praises the merits of cold Bourbon over church, Prozac […]
Cartoons
Reining in water
Compared to the measly 1 inch of rain that fell on the North Carolina Arboretum in March, last month’s rainfall was a deluge! More than 6 inches saturated our corner of the Earth. Although the rain brought an incredibly beautiful spring season, such fluctuations make it difficult to predict the weather even for the remainder […]
You can keep your herbal tea
Nothin’ To Prove. That’s the title of Mac Arnold’s new CD — a title that perfectly sums up the man’s worldview at this point in his life. Muddy’s man: Arnold’s Southern heritage clinched his worth in Waters’ eyes. Nothin’ To Prove, released this year on Arnold’s own label, which he’s dubbed Plantation # 1 Productions, […]
Beasts of burden
Christina Mullen, “Love and Luck,” graphite and watercolor on nautical paper. There couldn’t be a better time to drive to Penland. If you can keep from looking at the ridiculously pretentious McMansions under construction on the mountainsides around Weaverville and focus on the brilliant swaths of color provided by the purple stocks and white daisies […]
Gallery gossip
• What’s this with artists inviting the general public to constantly tromp through their studios? Everywhere you look there’s a studio walk, stroll, jump or hop! Maps are passed out, banners and flags hung, ads taken out — even billboards. West Asheville pioneer David McConville says, “Though West Walk was at first a ‘studio stroll’ […]
Earful
CD reviews Fifth House, Place: Three Stars • Genre(s): Funk, rock, jam band. • You’ll like it if: You don’t mind the normal jam-span being whittled to (oh my!) single-digit lengths. • Defining song: “Phase Shift.” The retort is always the same for bands that cater to the jam: “Yeah, the album’s painful, but you […]