Reality pales by Hanke’s comparison I wanted to take a moment to express my appreciation for the work of Ken Hanke, and to make sure you understand what a treasure you have in this man. I am not a rabid movie fan. At least, not of current films, although like most cinema buffs, I have […]
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Asheville (and America) at the crossroads
Asheville, it seems, has become everybody’s favorite place. Any town that can top the “best of” lists of both Rolling Stone and Money magazines is unique, indeed. This very specialness, however, places our fair city squarely at a crossroads — or, perhaps, in the crosshairs of the American juggernaut called progress. America has swallowed a […]
My Lai and I: A primer
I’ve seen the bumper sticker often; the other day it was on the back of an SUV: “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.” The slogan usually makes me feel bad. It tells me that I’m ignorant and inattentive, because I’m rarely outraged. Don’t get me wrong: I have known outrage in my life […]
The latest word
Quote of the month Often while reading a book one feels that the author would have preferred to paint rather than write; one can sense the pleasure he derives from describing a landscape or a person, as if he were painting what he is saying, because deep in his heart he would have preferred to […]
Now hear this
“‘Am I growing spiritually’? … Ask your family.” –Edgar Cayce “Guru” is a Sanskrit word meaning “teacher.” And true book lovers know that, as acts of creation, books are slivers of the divine. For many spiritual seekers, listening to audio books is a way to expand their spiritual horizons conveniently and inexpensively — and, most […]
Time and again
It’s about the music and dancing, of course: Toes tapping, fingers plucking, bows whizzing. The rustle of bouncing crinolines and the sweet stickiness of rhythmic sweat. A high note held so long and so true that the audience screams in appreciation. But it’s even more than that. During its three-night stay in Asheville, the Mountain […]
A new attitude
Imagine, if you will, an alternate dimension — one where, at a boozy recording-industry party somewhere in Beverly Hills, Iggy Pop and Johnny Cash are engaged in an ill-advised tryst in their host’s bedroom. Nine months later, one of them (it doesn’t really matter which one, at this point) births a set of triplets. True […]
Outside the lines
Anyone who pops her head through the musty portals of a record store these days cannot fail to appreciate the renewed interest in old vinyl. Although the collecting scene has been around, in some form or another, ever since that famous pup posed in front of a gramophone a gazillion years ago, vinyl has witnessed […]
A new head for a new agency
An unexpected change of leadership marked the transition from the old WNC Regional Air Pollution Control Agency to the new WNC Air Quality Agency at a brief board meeting on July 17. The meeting was specially called to transfer authority to and elect officers for the AQA, following the state Environmental Management Commission’s July 13 […]
Who gets the last word?
Attempts by state Rep. Martin Nesbitt to streamline the appeals process for people challenging state agencies drew bitter opposition from the governor, the attorney general and the Sierra Club. After months of old-school politicking, however, a rewritten version of House Bill 968, which Nesbitt sponsored, is close to becoming law — but only after the […]
Letters to the editor
Band together to stop international war crimes Please speak up for partnership ways of dealing with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Urge our U.S. Congress and candidates to join wills with all members of the European Union, other members of NATO, and more than 96 signed-in nations in total who will soon establish a […]
An environmentalist comes out of the woods
In the middle of the 19th century, Henry David Thoreau went into the woods for two years — and came out with some deeply felt beliefs about man and nature. In the last part of the 20th century, Wallace Kaufman went into the woods; he’s still living there, but he tells a very different story. […]
Searching for consensus
It’s time to put up or shut up. The powers that be are coming to the table on the I-26 Connnector project, for what is likely the last chance for the community to end its hand-wringing over the controversial highway. The much-talked-about design forum is scheduled for July 21-22 at Asheville’s Renaissance Hotel; its aim […]
Asheville City Council
With the Interstate-26 Connector design forum looming on the near horizon, Asheville City Council took a last opportunity to thank those agencies that plan to participate, and to urge the N.C. Department of Transportation to consider all the possibilities emerging from the forum. At their July 11 meeting — a short and sweet one, with […]
A bagful of coal, or credible evidence?
For decades, the coal trains have rumbled through Asheville every few days , hauling 5,000 tons of the fossil fuel from the mines of West Virginia to the Carolina Power & Light plant by Lake Julian. And for decades, CP&L chemists have analyzed a bagful of coal samples scooped each day from the conveyor belts […]
Notepad
Reaching out Agencies serving victims of domestic violence sometimes seem to be fighting several battles at once — struggling to eradicate the abuse even as they try to get the word out to victims about where to go for help. That’s why Helpmate, the only Buncombe County-based agency providing comprehensive services for women and children […]
While Rome burns
To many of its customers (and even some employees), Wal-Mart is all heart, all sweetness, all light. Wal-Mart is a good neighbor. Wal-Mart hires local managers. Wal-Mart sells cheap. All good news, at least at the local level. After all, as of March 2000, Wal-Mart had become the nation’s largest private employer, with some 900,000 […]
Going ga-ga over glass
I spent some time marveling in a public place the other afternoon. And I was not alone in this activity. Eventually, I found myself in the company of three other people, all of whom verbalized their wonder with the same phrase: “How did he do that?” One gentleman in the group had his own theories. […]
Taking it to the streets
Since age 12, Will Kimbrough has fronted his own rock bands, survived several record deals, served as a sideman for other recording artists, and become a much-in-demand Nashville session guitarist. Now 36, Kimbrough has just released a CD of his own songs on his own label — a coup he views as a kind of […]
CIBO’s last-minute stand
Leaders of the Council of Independent Business Owners have filed a lawsuit seeking to block the formation of the WNC Regional Air Quality Agency’s proposed Clean Air Community Trust Fund, calling the body illegal and objecting to its funding source. CIBO leaders have also sent letters asking state officials to delay their approval of the […]
Home, sweet home
We’ve come to think of owning a home as a quintessential part of the American dream. As Asheville Community Development Director Charlotte Caplan explained to a gathering of new homeowners on June 10: “Owning a home is not like owning an object. It makes you part of something. You belong to this place.” That’s a […]