Politics of the Business, the latest offering from New York-based producer, DJ and sometime-rapper Prince Paul, begins with a skit satirizing what Paul calls today’s “Hip Pop” movement. Actually, the album starts with two skits before kicking into the music, which is punctuated frequently by successive dramatic interludes as the album unfolds. If the shtick […]
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Cartoons
The bug brigade
My entomologist friend Richard “Dr. McBug” McDonald likes to introduce presentations on “farmscaping” (creating habitat for beneficial insects to control pests) with the tale of the time in 1996 when I called him to say that ladybugs were controlling the Colorado potato beetles at the Highland Lake Inn Gardens. Richard, then the state’s biological-control administrator, […]
Welcome Back!
Hello, and welcome to the 2003 Mountain Sports Festival (and for many of you, I should really say, “Welcome back!”). From its beginnings as a concept and a dream, the festival has grown tremendously. The first year, we celebrated great events, good music and a range of activities — and enjoyed an all-around good time. […]
Third time’s a charm
“Without a doubt, Asheville is the most incredible place I’ve ever lived,” exclaims Suzanne Bolding. For the past seven years, the upstate South Carolina native has called the Land of the Sky home. Bolding is just one of a supporting cast of dedicated volunteers who’ll be scrambling around answering questions, assisting with race management, passing […]
Biking
The Mountain Sports Festival has a biking event for everyone who wants to be involved in its Ski Country Sports Cycling Weekend, from casual riders to hill-climbing maniacs and interested observers. And they do mean everyone: This year, you don’t have to be a NORBA (National Off-Road Biking Association) member to compete. “Last year, we […]
Climbing
[Bouldering competitions — climbing without fancy gear — take place noon-4 p.m. on Saturday, June 7 at ClimbMax on Wall Street. Finals run noon-4:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 8 at downtown Asheville’s City/County Plaza. The Dyno Competition is at 6 p.m., also at City/County Plaza. (BoulderMax is presented by ClimbMax and the Bier Garden.)] You […]
Triathlon/Adventure Race
So you figure you’re an athlete, eh? You’ve done a marathon or two, conquered your fair share of team sports, maybe even ventured into the realm of extreme sports — just for kicks. But have you got what it takes to tackle three sports in a single day? Are you ready to test every muscle […]
Paddling
Henry David Thoreau is widely credited with the paddle-sport chestnut, “Everyone must believe in something. I believe I’ll go canoeing.” The etiology of that gem notwithstanding, for the past 30 years, the waters of the Southern Appalachians have been making believers out of a whole lot of people. The Mountain Sports Festival celebrates our region’s […]
The Music
Fourteen music acts spread across three days — and it’s all free! Torn down by the Trail Hound Trail Trot? Parking those lowing calves after pedaling the Urban Sprawl? Why not hobble over to the stage in the grass at City/County Plaza, where a healthy shot of music might just put a little spring back […]
Finding Nemo
reviewed by Marci Miller Finding Nemo is a whale of a tale, and every little minnow will flip over it. Which is not to say it’s just for the small fry. Pixar Animation Studios follows its winning tradition of the Toy Story films, A Bug’s Life and Monsters, Inc., creating in Nemo a story that […]
Asheville City Council
“To be questioning the integrity of two of our Council people … our two representatives came to us and begged us to vote on that, and this Council chose to sidestep that issue, for whatever reason.” — Council member Jim Ellis Sometimes, it’s not so much what you say as the way you say it […]
Notepad
Orange you glad you had a ball? “The most fabulous fund-raiser in Asheville — period.” That’s how Adrienne Kort of the Asheville Area Arts Council describes the upcoming Big Orange Ball, happening Saturday, June 7 at assorted downtown venues. “It’s so great because it appeals to so many different people, and you can be just […]
Letters to the editor
A veteran’s Memorial Day message As we honor on Memorial Day our nation’s men and women who have died in military service to our country, let us also, as a nation, rededicate ourselves to resolving international disputes peacefully. As a retired U.S. Army officer and a Vietnam vet, I call upon our government to redouble […]
Postpartum blues on Mother’s Day
Full-bosomed rhododendrons sashay around my mountain yard in a lusty evening breeze. I enjoy their dance from my high deck. Dogwood petals dropped like snow in the last storm, but catalpas in full leaf promise heavy clusters of blooms to come. And I know the tough old crepe will crimp my heart with beauty yet […]
Cartoons
Asheville City Council
“If this problem comes back to us … I think it’ll be time for the city to crack the whip.”
Asheville’s monument to tolerance
Zebulon B. Vance spoke movingly and influentially against what he called “the wickedness and the folly of intolerance.” Rising skyward from the busy downtown crossroads of this Appalachian mountain town is an elegant spire of rough-hewn granite: the Vance Monument. Recently, Asheville’s answer to the Washington Monument has been a focal point for controversy over […]
Soul food from the Universe Cafe
Revolutionary carrots? Transformational potatoes? After a talk with Sister Miriam Therese MacGillis, the spiritual aspect of food seems less an esoteric abstraction than an everyday delight. Restoring the connection between earth, food and humans is not only Sister MacGillis’ personal mission, it’s her job (she’s the director of Genesis Farm, a 180-acre educational center and […]
Asheville’s a great place to live…
Linda Giltz admits to having heard the above complaint before — “especially this time of year, when Strive Not to Drive Week is going strong.” Giltz, a land planner at Land-of-Sky Regional Council, has been busy helping pull together this year’s event, which encourages people to swear off their cars for one or more days […]
Tempeh fugit
“I began shopping in the local natural-food store there in Idaho, befriended the owners, and learned how to pronounce some of the exotic products. Months later, I called home and asked my mom if anyone had started a natural-food store while I was gone, and soon I was making plans to return to Asheville and […]