The walls in this place are humming, buzzing with feedback and vibrating so heavily you can literally feel the music, not only in your ears but all the way down to your bones. It almost feels like if the band plays one more note, the walls will buckle and tumble down. From my vantage point … Read more
Despite all its German names, The Nutcracker contains all the necessary ingredients of an American holiday classic: a little violence, a little drama, lots of overindulgence and a fairy-tale ending to boot. The beloved ballet is often performed several times during the holiday season by local dance companies. It’s a chance for young dancers to … Read more
Listening room So there you are, sitting alone in your room on another post-break-up night. The love of your life and yourself are — how to put this gently? — splitsville. You don’t want to go out, which would mean leaving the pool of romantic self-pity you’re wallowing in. No, it’s far too soon for … Read more
The folks at The Print Center are hell-bent on making the rest of us understand that screen-printing is a serious art form — but with a playful edge. “Screen-printing,” by the way, does not here refer to the kind of mass-produced poster- and T-shirt art often associated with the term (which originated in the early … Read more
The mission sounded simple: Find the very best coffees in the greater downtown area. But in the event, it proved to be just too huge, too massively grand a task, to be contained within the scope of a single article. This was a challenge that could properly become a grail, a life’s work. Or, at … Read more
“The Constitution does not give the government the right to criminalize speech just because it … makes some of us uncomfortable.” — ACLU attorney Bruce Elmore Jr. “When I was 10 years old, my father died and left my mother with six children under the age of 15 to raise. My mother had, at most, … Read more
Planting the seed of fatherhood “In most cultures, educational resources for mothers are everywhere, but when I began my search for resources on how to be a good father, mostly what I discovered were Web sites and books related to reclaiming custody of children,” says Accem Scott, founder of Growing the Father, a new Asheville-based … Read more
Buses … I know buses. I’ve ridden in deluxe, air-conditioned motor coaches up and down the East Coast — but hey, who hasn’t? I’ve also experienced the joys of bus travel in several Third World countries where even the hardiest travelers have been pushed to the brink of sanity by the kilnlike temperatures, noxious fumes … Read more
An Asheville-based environmental group has helped persuade America’s biggest office-supply retailer to switch to selling paper products with an average of 30 percent recycled content. Vice Chairman Joe Vassalluzzo of Staples joined the Dogwood Alliance’s Danna Smith and Todd Paglia of the San Francisco-based group ForestEthics in a Nov. 12 press conference to make the … Read more
I’m a retired Asheville High School teacher who misses pontificating. I also wonder about the validity of some of the ideas I passed along to the younger generation during my years in the classroom. I was born at the opening of World War II and was raised “ducking and covering” during the opening days of … Read more
