Syprian Harvey’s Web site — you’ll find a link for it at www.ashevilleart.net — is not a place for the faint of heart. The site opens with an old photograph of Appalachian Hall, referred to as Asheville Asylum. It may be clear to an Asheville resident that the asylum and attendant story are fictions — […]
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The junk journal
Views Willie Nelson, Thursday, Nov. 4; Thomas Wolfe Auditorium. Willie for President? Believe it or not, a stellar, post-election performance from the unwavering, lovable outlaw made a staunch case for the merits of a Willie Nelson White House. In our increasingly divided modern America, nobody’s better suited than Willie to transcend the gargantuan chasms splitting […]
Cartoons
After the Sunset
Gorgeous and lusty young Lola Cirillo (Salma Hayek, Frida) wants nothing more than to watch the sunset from her seaside deck in the Bahamas. But for her older boyfriend, Max Burdett (Pierce Brosnan, Laws of Attraction), the prospect of eternal horizon-gazing is terrifying. After a few months, paradise has become a bore. Max is sick […]
Lots of votes, little change
As election day dawned in Western North Carolina, a double rainbow graced the sky over West Asheville’s 16th Precinct. And for the folks waiting in line to vote, it was a fitting symbol: The stormy campaign season was almost over; the end was near. After months of hype, a record number of voters turned out […]
The human touch
“A landslide devil seems to laugh at human incompetence.” That quote, attributed to a Japanese soil engineer, proved a fitting way for Richard Wooten of the North Carolina Geological Survey to introduce his presentation at an Oct. 19 forum at A-B Tech. The roughly 100 people who heard Wooten’s explanation of why landslides occur learned […]
Letters to the editor
Media culpa It’s Nov. 3, and in my opinion, the butterfly ballot of the 2004 election has been the confusion caused by the inadequacies of the mainstream news media. Today’s media has done an impeccable job of distorting and obfuscating the information we need to properly understand current events. Twenty years ago, the media analyzed […]
Who gains and who pays?
Has anybody noticed that Asheville’s getting flatter? This is not a new phenomenon: In the 1920s, E.W. Grove took down a big hill to build the Grove Arcade and used the dirt to fill in a ravine that is now Coxe Avenue. Longtime Montford residents remember another ravine that once lay behind the homes on […]
Blues travelers
This week, The Grey Eagle presents a chance to catch Leo Kottke and John Hammond just two days apart. Both veteran guitarists, Kottke and Hammond are icons of folk and the blues, respectively — and thus, metaphorically speaking, they strum to different drummers. But their roots run deep in one another’s territory. Kottke and Hammond […]
The junk journal
Views Halloween, Sunday, Oct. 31; downtown Asheville. It seems a number of forces conspired this year — in both darkness and light — to thwart the usually delightful revelry of a good Halloween in Asheville. For starters, a number of area celebrations shook down a day early on Saturday’s “Devil’s Night,” including the rescheduled Brewgrass […]
Cartoons
Over the river and into the restaurant
Here’s a sign of the times: An Xpress staffer is currently searching for a roommate, but she’s having a hard time finding one. It’s nothing personal — she’s easygoing, fun and responsible. It’s just that she lives in east Asheville, and a lot of prospective roomies gently decline, saying they’re trying to find digs in […]
Bellamy and the billboard magnate
Why would a nationally known media executive in Augusta, Ga., send a $200 check to Council member Terry Bellamy‘s re-election campaign in Asheville? W.S. Morris III runs the Morris Communications Company, a $400-million-a-year media conglomerate that owns scores of media outlets around the U.S., including newspapers, magazines, book publishers and radio stations. Fairway Outdoor Advertising […]
Paying to play?
In recent months, private citizens and political action committees alike have once again succumbed to election fever, opening their wallets in hopes of securing the winning candidates’ support for the donors’ particular concerns. Of course, purse strings are not necessarily puppet strings, and elected officials have been known to favor conscience over contributions. Still, following […]
Newman vs. Newman
The red-white-and-blue attack ad appeared in Asheville voters’ mailboxes just a couple of days before Election Day 2003. “VOTER ALERT” it proclaimed in screaming red capital letters. “Environmental extremists bring gridlock to Asheville … Delay The Widening Of Over-Crowded I-26!! … Extremists and Obstructionists have no place on our City Council.” The flier’s road rage […]
Letters to the editor
Keep common sense in Parkway equation If the present course is followed, a state-of-the-art visitor center for the Asheville district of the Blue Ridge Parkway may turn a good idea into unnecessary duplication of facilities that could threaten operations of the Folk Art Center. Headquarters of the Parkway are located at Hemphill Knob near Oteen, […]
Local restaurant workers need a union
Let’s face it: Asheville doesn’t offer the world’s best selection of career opportunities, unless your idea of a dream job is being a chef or a server. Good old manufacturing, long the backbone of the Southern economy, is rapidly going the way of the buffalo and cheap gas. Instead, what’s emerging in this city is […]
The junk journal
Views Dragonmoose and Dig Shovel Dig, Vincent’s Ear, Saturday, Oct. 23. Bribery is a treacherous and rotten business. From baseball to politics, history teaches us there’s always some prick willing to take a little kickback for a favor. This perpetual greasing can emit an especially repugnant odor when it comes to the deceptively shiny world […]
Cartoons
Roads taken and not taken
After a number of years of floundering, the Asheville Area Arts Council is once again a functional entity. What’s more, the AAAC’s open-house auxiliary group, the Artist’s Roundtable — formed during a stormy period to give local artists more voice — is still alive and relevant. The group originated a yearly scholarship given to a […]
I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. Page me later.
“You don’t know me, but I like your ass and maybe sometime I could squeeze it!” This intrusive found note — perhaps left on a stranger’s windshield or slipped inside a gym locker — came affectionately signed, “Your secret admirer.” The absurd pick-up line serves as a tiny taste of the sometimes hilarious, other times […]