If you think elderly women are way beyond an acceptable age for sporting dirty mouths, ostentatious outfits and spontaneous flings with younger men, then Bermuda Avenue Triangle is definitely not the play for you. Breaking down age-old stereotypes, this comedy — now running at Asheville Community Theatre — proves that, “You’re never too old to … Read more
For her latest column, roving A&E columnist Allison Frank highlights Bob Moog. While the synth wizard’s contributions to our modern soundscape obviously require no electrification, many might not realize that Moog is based right here in these hills. For more, read on: When I was in college, my grandmother dragged me to see Stanley Kubrick’s … Read more
Four friends got together for an impromptu jam session in Jacksonville, Fla. on March 26, 1969, launching a legendary band that’s stayed true to its raw, bluesy, brilliant original vision, to this day– despite the death of two of its founding members (in chillingly similar motorcycle crashes) bouts with ravaging alcoholism and drug addiction, numerous … Read more
“Start on the path, and the helpers will arrive.” For writer Michael Rumaker, speaking from his home outside New York City, this maxim recalls the simple truth of his own experience as a Black Mountain College student in the 1950s. But the school — situated just outside its namesake village, 15 minutes east of Asheville … Read more
The music may be changing, but the message is the same. So pop in the Indigo Girls’ latest CD, last year’s Come on Now Social, and let the first track rip. Yes, rip. Fans who discovered the Georgia duo through melodious, earnest — and, of course, acoustic — tunes like “Closer to Fine” and “Southland … Read more
No one could miss the drift: More than 100 Buncombe residents packed the Asheville City Council chambers the evening of April 18. Twenty-five more stood in the hall. One by one, each speaker called on Asheville City Council members and Buncombe County commissioners to preserve the Western North Carolina Air Pollution Control Agency. “We absolutely … Read more
The supply of affordable housing in Asheville is diminishing — and so is the city’s share of federal Housing and Urban Development money. Asheville ranks lowest in the state — and 144th out of 184 cities, nationally — in housing affordability, according to the new Consolidated Housing and Community Development Plan for 2000-2005, unveiled at … Read more
Inalienable rights under attack [The April 12] Mountain Xpress was poignant for me because, on that day, my friend Jean Marlowe was sentenced to 10 months in prison, after confessing to a federal judge that she considered marijuana (cannabis) to be a gift from God to use for her health (see Genesis). Jean has an … Read more
Jeez, a year since the Columbine shootings, not to mention the various workplace shootings, which have forever tarnished our collective subconscious. It wasn’t supposed to happen here, the locals say — hunched over their coffees, microphones in their faces. Unfortunately, the reactionary anguish and paranoia that accompany such tragedies are fleeting. Since all the top … Read more
Serving as a high priestess is a hard job. “The toughest job you’ll ever love” may apply to military service, but it could just as easily be found in a Pagan-clergy handbook — if there were such a thing. Among my jobs as a high priestess are leading a weekly ritual with the home circle, … Read more
