After getting their feet wet with one formal session and a community meeting, it was back-to-school time at the Asheville City Council’s Jan. 17 work session, as Council members scrambled to prepare for their upcoming retreat and several looming hot-button issues. To that end, it was a long night of reports designed to get the … Read more
For an eighth grader with designs on coolness, there’s only one peer-sanctioned response to a long lecture on bugs’ mating habits: boredom. Notebook doodling, loud gaping yawns – perhaps even a head slumped on the desk, for good measure – are all effective means of ensuring fellow pubescent classmates there isn’t some geeky girl-repelling chemistry … Read more
Somewhere in a darkened room, a different kind of band ruminates over its next song. No lyrics will be sung, no chorus repeated. In fact, very little traditional structure other than jazz’s conversational play ties the music together. Local trio Ahleuchatistas speaks loudly through this experimental voice. And yet the band’s latest coup – its … Read more
On her Web site, North Carolina-born writer Gail Godwin doles out her expertise to aspiring authors – but her meticulous explanations might prove more intimidating than encouraging. When a fan e-mail-queried about “inscrutable characters” vs. “see-through characters,” the author responded, “Your choice depends on what experience you hope to give your reader,” and capped her … Read more
When critically lauded singer/guitarist Susan Tedeschi recently set out to make an all-covers album, she didn’t flinch from tackling the giants. Indeed, on her latest disc, Hope and Desire, Tedeschi puts her own, supremely soulful spin on songs by the all-world likes of Bob Dylan, Jagger-Richards, Otis Redding and Stevie Wonder, undaunted by the long … Read more
Artist Spotlight: Jason Smith and Night’s Bright Colors Gabriel Garcia Marquez found love in the time of cholera, protagonist Ray Aibelli updated oedipal lust in the movie Spanking the Monkey, and now local musician Jason Smith has discovered love in the asylum. His latest release, Love in the Asylum Parts I and II (Aphasian Waves), … Read more
The waiter may tell you that the house specialty is the veal saltimbocca, or perhaps the Zeoli raviolis, stuffed with goat cheese and red peppers, but what Pomodoros serves up best is comfort – provided you’re comfortable with loosening your belt at the table. The restaurant is the brainchild of proprietor Tommy Tsiros, son of … Read more
New year, new eats: Want a bellyful to celebrate the Jan. 29 Chinese New Year’s celebration? Then look no further than Asheville’s Westgate Shopping Center, where Oriental Pavilion recently opened. The OP does Chinese and Japanese cuisines on a grand scale, with one of those quintessentially Asian menus listing scores of variations at accessible prices. … Read more
Spring break when it’s still snowing • Who she is: Lisa Watters • What she’s wearing: a flowered J.Crew halter dress (picked up at a clothing swap) over a black turtleneck cast-off from her mother; an Irish wool cardigan (also from the clothing swap); tall black boots from T.J. Maxx; necklace from Ten Thousand Villages. … Read more
