Dear Ace: I called my trash removal company today and they’re telling me that I don’t need to recycle, but that if I put all my trash in the receptacle, they’ll separate the recyclables from the garbage. This just seems too good to be true. What’s really up with trash removal and recycling?—Doubting in Fluvanna […]

Dear Ace: Spring has put me in a Nietzschean mood. Where can I find a giant rock face to climb?—Der-Überbergsteiger-in-Charlottesville Ace groks ya, Friedrich. Having put himself through the kinds of dramatic highs and lows that most people never see outside of Wagnerian opera, he knows a thing or two about living on the edge, […]

 Dear Ace: Is there was any connection between Charlottesville’s Boar’s Head Inn and the Boar’s Head Brand of delicatessen meats and cheeses? And if not, just what is it about the head of a boar that makes me feel so danged refined?—Glazed-and-Confused-in-Charlottesville To answer your first question: Nope. And even less so now, since Boar’s […]

 Dear Ace: I had no idea Google had a dietary branch, but if what I’m hearing around town is correct, they’ve come up with something called “Google Fiber,” and the city and county want to bring it to Charlottesville! What’s up with that? And will it obstruct my ability to purchase digestion-assisting whole grains, flax […]

 Dear Ace: Every year, my husband and I celebrate the beginning of spring with an aerial tour of the renewed landscape. We’re new to Charlottesville, and wondering where around here we might find a private plane, helicopter, or balloon to give us a bird’s eye view of the area?—Fuselage-Fool-in-Charlottesville Would-be Charlottesville aeronauts have several places […]

 Dear Ace: Times are tight right now. What’s the history of finding gold in the area? And do you think it might pay off for me to hit the creek with some panning equipment?—Ain’t-sayin’-he’s-a-gold-digger-but-ain’t-messin’-with-no-broke-rivers-in-Charlottesville So you want to know whether your auric ambitions will pan out? Fortunately, there are several factors working in your favor. […]

Dear Ace: What’s up with that carousel at the east end of the Downtown Mall? I’ve never seen another one like it.—Merrily-Going-Around-Charlottesville That’s because, according to New York/London appraisers Masterson-Gurr-Johns Inc., the little blue carousel on our mall is “the last known kiddy carousel in this country of its type.” The attraction, featuring seven painted […]

Dear Ace: I’ve been on a cinema kick since crashing The Paramount Theater’s Oscar Night Party last weekend, and I’m jonesing to get back to the celluloid buffet. Sadly, the Virginia Film Festival won’t be happening again for a while. What other noteworthy picture shows should my fellow film buffs and I be aware of […]

Dear Ace: Some friends of mine are passing through Charlottesville, but I don’t have enough room in my apartment to put them up for the weekend, and their shoestring budget—to say nothing of their enormous, shaggy beards—puts most local hotels, inns and bed & breakfasts out of their range. Where in this town might a […]

 Dear Ace: What kind of effect has all this snowfall had on Charlottesville-area snowsports? I’ve never tried any, at least without the vicarious aid of a Nintendo 64, but everywhere I look now I see these scintillating heaps of powder, and I would hate for it all to go to waste. What does it take […]