Fashion keeps coming around, right? Sort of like movie remakes. Alex and Emma was just Paris When It Sizzles — only a little less sizzling without Audrey Hepburn’s signature style. So, when co-opting vintage vogue, it’s best to go back to the source: those unforgettable characters who turned quirk into trend. Annie Hall made neckties … Read more
Start small, but learn the gift of giving What happens when a city is displaced? They show up on your doorstep. On a Sunday morning in Montford, a young man knocked on my door, avoiding direct eye contact and asking, “You know, I don’t really do this, but I, well, it being Sunday and all, … Read more
Opinions from an online survey on the future of the Asheville Civic Center indicate public support for keeping the facility at its current location, and enhancing and updating the building to make it suitable for a full range of performances and events. The survey was offered on the Mountain Xpress Web site from Sept. 7-30, … Read more
Downtown goes wireless The Wi-Fi revolution has come to Asheville. Wireless Internet access, or Wi-Fi, is now freely available to anyone with a wireless-ready computer within the central business district. Expanding a program that began in City/County Plaza back in May, Buncombe County recently began providing free wireless access in a roughly triangular “hot spot” … Read more
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners convened at the Crest Center in Leicester on Oct. 4 to wrap up their unfinished Sept. 27 formal session and hold a lengthy retreat. The board had its January retreat in the same place, and both times the acoustics and visibility were wretched and the temperature apparently unregulatable, leaving … Read more
After more than two hours of discussion, the Asheville City Council agreed to appoint a task force to consider what to do about the dilapidated Civic Center. This marks the latest in a long-running series of attempts by this and previous City Councils to reach agreement on a plan for the aging structure. In 1996, … Read more
Not to shove that “never stop learning” stuff down your throat, but even the most hardened teacher-hater probably feels a pang of nostalgia at the first cool breezes, crisp apples and honk of the diesel exhaust-spewing yellow bus. Happily, there are ways to get school spirit without revisiting your locker combination — or even having … Read more
In case you’ve forgotten what school was like, Ducky, Spicoli, Danny and Sandy are all perfectly preserved on DVD. In fact, even the ABC After School Specials (which ran from 1972-1988, filling many a young head with the terrors of alcoholic parents, ballet-dancing boys and teen pregnancy) are now available on disc. And, though education … Read more
Face it. You can’t get food fresher than the veggies at a roadside stand unless you grow it yourself. And at this time of year, it’s way late to figure on growing anything for current consumption — other than sprouts. (Soak seeds overnight, pour off water. Rinse daily.) So, your best bet for really fresh … Read more
The late, great designer Steven Sprouse once said that fashion comes from the streets. He kept his collections current by checking out what kids around NYU, punks in Tompkins Square Park and artists in Greenwich Village were wearing. Looking for a little wardrobe inspiration, Xpress keeps an eye on downtown fashionistas. (A) Long live the … Read more
