Anyone familiar with the Asheville art scene over the last 20 years must suspect by now that Will Henry Stevens was the most prolific painter of the 20th century. The current Blue Spiral 1 exhibit of new — that is, never previously exhibited — Stevens pieces consists of 60 or so canvases and works on … Read more
Grandpa told the old family tale. A husband and two sons made it modern. A movie star kicked it into gear. Then an insistent ancestor spoke from beyond and grabbed the reins — for good. If all the people who helped Sheila Kay Adams write her first novel, My Old True Love (Algonquin, 2004), gathered … Read more
One can only marvel at the actorly calculations driving Michael Cheek as he chokes down yet another donut in his portrayal of Otto, a slobby, histrionic, morbidly obese, unemployed comedian. The second and third acts of The Food Chain are totally dependent on the comedic Cheek’s verbal and physical timing, and yet you couldn’t make … Read more
“The guy who plays drums for Kronik cuts my hair each week,” reveals Lewis Lankford, president of the West Asheville Business Association. And Bryan Marshall of country act Bryan Marshall & The Gone Wrongs, well, his wife Terra owns The Beauty Parade, a nearby salon. Lankford is naming off many of the musicians who not … Read more
Of note Bela never said there’d be days like this: Bela Fleck & The Flecktones bass ace Victor Wooten will be a “guest instructor” at Earth School’s upcoming “Wilderness Survival & Self-Reliance Skills” program, to be held in the woods of WNC (near Tryon). The weeklong camp runs Saturday, May 22 through Friday, May 28, … Read more
One reason I decided to turn my yard into a garden was so I could savor the flavor of fine varieties of green beans at their very freshest. Like corn, green beans are a seasonal delicacy that must be eaten as soon as possible after harvesting. They have a short shelf life and, if not … Read more
“Electronic systems simply aren’t up to the job of voting. The only thing the computer is good for is as a fancy ballot printer.” — Computer expert Rebecca Mercuri of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government When you cast your ballot on a touch-screen voting machine, can you be confident that your vote has … Read more
In the wake of the disconcerting 2000 presidential contest in Florida, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act in 2002. HAVA is intended “to provide funds to States to replace punch card voting systems, to establish the Election Assistance Commission to assist in the administration of Federal elections and to otherwise provide assistance with the … Read more
The 2002 Georgia elections were odd. Last-minute polls showed incumbent Gov. Roy Barnes leading by between nine and 11 points. In the U.S. Senate race, polls showed popular incumbent Max Cleland leading Republican challenger Saxby Chambliss by two to five points. Georgia has a long tradition of electing Democrats to statewide office, so these polls … Read more
