Unknown, unwelcome guests parade the house peripheral pharmaceutical crushing leaning towards countertop-labradorite-esque scars with ferns overhanging under bare fluorescent bulbs, where I fear for osmotic absorption — should I not feel fear for cubistic fluorite landscapes here, from underneath this alien dust? Flushing proves useless as guests self-replicate — so I pull the plug and … Read more
“We’ve laughed at the self-absorbed antics of Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer for nine years,” reported Salon Entertainment following the 1998 finale of Seinfeld. “We know they’re jerks, but we love them anyway.” In fact, many fans of the televised sitcom felt that the final episode — where the four wind up being thrown in … Read more
Though nearly 50 poetic entries filled our mailbox, only a fraction of these metaphors and similes arrived in prose form. Happily, among the submissions we discovered some standout works. This year’s contest winner, Connie J. Aiken’s “Tomato Sandwich,” uses a summery lunch request to transport readers through time, back to drippy ice-cream cones and a … Read more
Longstanding fetish: The Chocolate Fetish, one of Asheville’s preeminent sweet spots, is celebrating its silver anniversary. The Haywood Street chocolate-lovers’ delight has spent 25 years dishing out what Xpress readers have repeatedly voted the best chocolates in WNC. Where else can you find truffles infused with essence of roses, and fine French red wine next … Read more
The human race holds many things sacred and dear. In some segments of the global population, it’s wealth that drives the herd. In others, religion is what nourishes or even, perhaps, saves the soul. Few matters, however, are as universally and fundamentally important, or as basic, as the need for food. “Food is essential,” notes … Read more
CD reviews Ahleuchatistas, What You Will (Cuneiform Records): Four Stars • Genre(s): Experimental, jazz, art rock. • You’ll like it if: You favor rapid, multi-instrumental conversations over extended solos. • Defining song: “If, Whenever” — Not even a minute long, the song makes its point in what usually takes a full album. Thus, the philosophy … Read more
• If you find an abandoned bowling ball on your doorstep, don’t call the police — just paint something clever on it and get it to a member of the Terpsicorps board: It’s time for their annual Bowl-a-Thon! • What’s this about Bob Godfrey and the directorship of a museum in Upstate NY? • Watch … Read more
“Form/Function 3,” by Dustin Spagnola. Dustin Spagnola has studied art history, but the inspiration for his work doesn’t come from Da Vinci or Manet or even Jackson Pollock — it comes from the streets. He can’t understand, he says, “why a serious new international art movement should be criminalized and marginalized.” That’s because he’s too … Read more
Hunkered down in an Amherst, Ma. apartment during the grimy mid-’80s scene, drummer Emmett Murphy was keeping busy playing in local bands. Fresh off a stint in the underground Connecticut group All White Jury, he was asked to join a new outfit with J Mascis and Lou Barlow. Murphy, affectionately known to Mascis (and now … Read more
