When a reader accuses me of slumbering while the world’s environment is plundered, I wonder: Am I really asleep and dreaming for 30 years that I’ve been looking energetically for ideas that will protect our natural resources and the beauty of the world around us? Herewith, a few responses to that reader and others. Genetically […]
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Now hear this
“You don’t have road rage when you’re listening to a good book.” –Robert Bennett Miller Men and women are equally avid listeners of books on tape. But unlike women — who enjoy books written and/or narrated by both sexes — men remain tradition-bound. Just as they do with movies and printed books, most guys overwhelmingly […]
The latest word
“I have met with women whom I really think would like to be married to a poem, and be given away by a novel.” –Keats Romancing the novel Black Mountain author Jill Jones is currently promoting her seventh novel, Bloodline (St. Martin’s Press, 2000), a suspense-riddled romance about Jack the Ripper that spans from his […]
You look mahvelousssssss …
If fashion’s about what inspires designers to create — and what motivates buyers to spend — then everyone’s going home happy this fall. From a ’40s-film fantasy come to life, to classic chic and even retro rock-star glam, distinct personal style is, well, back in style. In other words, dedicated fashion followers can toss convention […]
Wear it well
What is style? “Style is everything,” according to Tom Robbins, modern novelist and master of the metaphorical sentence. Certainly, style is communication — a distinctive way of being that tells people something about us before we even open our mouths to speak. And while it’s definitely true that “you can’t judge a book by its […]
Native costume
There’s no question Asheville has a bigger reputation than most towns its size. People all over the world know of us, for better or worse. And because of the proverbial word on the street, Asheville has earned a certain “alternative” image, even with folks who’ve never set foot within our city limits! Need proof? Once, […]
The core of the matter
If you crave a journey straight to the heart of apple country during Hendersonville’s annual celebration of that tasty homegrown comestible, follow your discerning palate to the official Apple Orchard Tour. This fun, fact-filled event takes folks through the lush countryside of Dana, Edneyville and Fruitland, rural communities just minutes outside Hendersonville that have long […]
Good picks
Apples of all hues, hefts and idiosyncrasies are the undisputed stars of Hendersonville’s biggest event of the year — but there’ll be no shortage of juicy (though family-oriented) entertainment throughout the long weekend. In what promises to be one homegrown highlight, The Bouncing Bears — Henderson County’s precision jump-roping performance team — takes the stage […]
Not just for polishing anymore
“As American as apple salsa?!” Hey, it could happen. In fact, if you judge from past winners of the North Carolina Apple Festival’s annual apple-recipe contest, that most lore-ridden of all our fruits is doing way more, these days, than pumping up Grandma’s standby pie. For at least two decades, this popular event has inspired […]
Goodbye gasoline?
China is opening itself up to commercial freedom, notes Robert Kosak, director of the Center of Alternative Energy Transportation in Rock Hill, S.C. “So what happens first when someone gets commercial freedom?” he asks. “They want their first car. What happens when two billion Chinese buy a car? Oil production will be hitting its peak.” […]
Legalized violence?
This isn’t Philadelphia or Los Angeles, and Rodney King doesn’t live here. But events during the recent Republican and Democratic national conventions have turned the spotlight on the role of peace officers in the community. Although national mainstream media devoted most of their coverage to political stumping, a fair amount of coverage was devoted to […]
Asheville City Council
Asheville City Council members are preparing for what could be one of their longest meetings ever. They speculate that the public hearing on the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter on the old Sayles-Biltmore Bleacheries site could last as long as seven hours, so they are taking measures to ensure the process is completed in one sitting. At […]
Letters to the editor
Religious freedom has become religious persecution, courtesy of “We Still Pray” proponents I must have been asleep or in a coma. How, otherwise, could I have missed this? I didn’t see it on the news or read it in the papers, but it must have happened: The Constitution has been changed! Is it true that […]
Pagans pray, too
One issue haunts me. I put it on the back burner, and it returns again and again. Just when I think the furor over Christian prayer in public school has died down, it rises like a phoenix. Let me state this as plainly as I can: Among other things, the separation of church and state […]
Where did our love go?
“I’m the best-kept secret around,” insists former Supremes superstar Mary Wilson, speaking from her apartment in New York City. It’s not even 10 a.m., and already this lady’s fired up to tell her story. And why not? One of the hottest industry scoops of the summer exposed the acerbic dispute that erupted between the cantankerous […]
The old-school funk is free …
Sometimes a new idea is so important it changes history: Imagine what direction painting might have taken without Picasso, or what contemporary music might sound like, were it not for the influence of funk? In the beginning (sometime during 1959), an epic musical extravaganza was created. The Parliaments were a doo-wop/soul band that showcased the […]
Achin’ to be
Alex Chilton, a man who knows a little something about writing pop music, once observed that it takes good pop hooks to make good pop songs. That formula sounds simple enough — but as good as his songs were, Chilton and his bandmates in Big Star never really made a pop dollar. In a similar […]
The perfect swarm
The King Bees’ 1996 album, Pollenatin’ (Tramp), reveals one blues band heavily immersed in, well … pleasure. The title track exposes guitarist Rob “Hound Dog” Baskerville’s slick guitar pickin’ coupling with classic harmonica work by Jerry “Boogie” McCain; on the kinda-nasty “Plenty Big Love,” singer/songwriter/bassist Penny “Queen Bee” Zamagni proclaims that size does, indeed, matter. […]
Steal this opportunity
A glam-rocker death hunt and other spiritual journeys form the nexus of this year’s RiverRun International Film Festival, which celebrates its third year of bringing feature films and documentaries to Western North Carolina. In a recent interview, RiverRun’s founder/director, Gene D’Onofrio, outlined his ambitions for the festival: “My aim is to make this a three-level […]
Asheville City Council
The Parks and Recreation Department is ready to put that one-cent dedicated tax hike, approved by Asheville City Council on July 1, to work. But instead of using the $400,000 to leverage a long-term bond, Parks and Rec Director Irby Brinson says the city will concentrate on six projects designed to have an immediate impact […]
Letters to the editor
Gun-control laws belie common sense A 5-year-old child was killed on May 25, 1998, in Hendersonville, N.C. The accident occurred while his twin brother was playing with a handgun that had slid from the front seat of the car to the rear floor. Sounds like a great case for more gun control, doesn’t it? On […]