Forever in “Quiet Town”: Josh Rouse. photo by Dominik Sontag Not that he’s ever Googled his own name — but imagine the surprise songwriter Josh Rouse might’ve felt had he come across a mention of himself on pop-radio darling John Mayer’s Web site. “This CD is KILLING me lately,” Mayer wrote last October. He was … Read more
Asheville On YouTube Unless you’ve been living under a very large (and non-Internet-ready) rock in the past year, chances are you’ve heard of the online video-sharing network YouTube.com. It’s like a cable-access show gone nuts, and hundreds of thousands of people across the globe have contributed content. Some of them are even from Asheville. What … Read more
Is this really a world that doesn’t care about its children? Sophia, my granddaughter, just had her second birthday. She is a delight. Her smile, her giggle, her dance, even her “no” all bring joy to her parents, family and friends. And delighted that others smile and laugh with her, the love and pleasure mutually … Read more
Editor’s note: Acclaimed Asheville writer, conservationist and social critic Wilma Dykeman Stokely died Dec. 22 at age 86. I first got to know Wilma Dykeman after I moved here from Houston, Texas, in 1988 and began attending public events at The North Carolina Arboretum, Warren Wilson College and assorted Buncombe County public libraries with my … Read more
Health Services model merits discussion In 2001, the League of Women Voters of Asheville/Buncombe County committed to focus local activities on “Citizenship in Action” and “The Future of Our Community.” Since then the League has worked to facilitate strong partnerships between government and citizens by providing opportunities for public discourse to support community-based problem solving. … Read more
Gothic Lolita Local student Tessa Hansman got into Gothic Lolita fashion (a style that originated in the late ’90s and peaked a year or two ago in Tokyo) last year when she saw the film Kamikaze Girls. “I fell in love with the look,” Tessa says. “I started buying clothes that looked like this at … Read more
What’s good for business may be good for your belly. On Thursday, Jan. 25, the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce will hold the first “Chow Down with the Chamber,” a fund-raiser to support the chamber’s many local programs. On that day, participating restaurants (see a list at www.ashevillechamber.org) will donate 10 percent of their profits … Read more
Flavor: Straight off the Mexican street Ambiance: Cut-rate fast-food joint Americans are suckers for eating out. According to some studies, as many as two out of every three meals consumed in this country are prepared by professionals (meaning the meal eaten at home likely comes from a Styrofoam container crammed with last night’s leftovers.) photos … Read more
A hard-core activist: Ruth Clark singlehandedly collected nearly 3,000 signatures for an Energy Future Resoution. photo by Jonathan Welch North Carolina state Reps. Susan Fisher, Bruce Goforth and Sen. Martin Nesbitt formally received a thick stack of petitions signed in support of the North Carolina Energy Future Resolution at a Jan. 8 press event. Spearheaded … Read more
