Ace: I recently discovered a bizarre landmark at 401 West Franklin Street in Richmond: a private sports and social club where women aren’t permitted to set foot. In fact, before I could even open the front door to the Commonwealth Club to inspect the historic (est. 1891) building, I was intercepted by an employee. Can […]

Dear Ace: Why haven’t your devoted readers asked you any questions this week?-Ace Ace, Recently Ace has become frustrated by the lack of authentic reader questions. This week he was forced to pick his brain to come up with some burning question of his own. Unfortunately Ace is too wise to have his own inquiries […]

Ace: Every day I walk past the construction site on Maury Avenue for the Jefferson Scholars’ new building at UVA. One day, I looked up and saw a good size log—yes, log—hanging on an electric line that runs in front of the site. Every day as I walk underneath it I think: If that log […]

Dear Ace: I was at the Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar on the Downtown Mall the other day and noticed a free newspaper I’d never seen in Charlottesville before. It’s called “The Virginia Defender.” Can you explain where it came from and what it’s doing here?—Wrights Auf Ender Dear Wrights, Ace doesn’t know where people get […]

Dear Ace, There are some trivial matters that have a way of nagging at you well beyond the statute of limitations. More than 10 years ago I noticed two small horseshoes imbedded in the curb in front of what is now the Embarq building across from the Main Street Market. Last evening I noticed that […]

Dear Ace, My fiancé and I live in Charlottesville, but we plan to get married in Italy next summer. Will we need to have a ceremony in Virginia as well? My mother is already being a nightmare about the first wedding; I don’t want to have to go through it all twice.—Ida Due Dear Ida, […]

Dear Ace,What’s up with the ranking of Charlottesville as the #4 best city in America? Is that number completely arbitrary or have we been doing something wrong since we were ranked #1 in 2004?—Sly Down Dear Sly, Part of the superlative discrepancy has to do with the different parties crunching the numbers. This year Kiplinger’s […]

Dear Ace, Who made that fabulous soapstone guitar erected in the front of the Music Resource Center on Ridge Street? When did it go up and why did I just start seeing it?—Sculpture Lover Dear Sculpture Lover, Ace can’t account for why you just started seeing the sculpture, but he can tell you that it’s […]

Dear Ace, I read that the University of Virginia School of Medicine just graduated 21 students of internal medicine this year. But I’m confused; isn’t all medicine internal?—Tangled Innards Dear Innards, You obviously have not attended medical school lately, because you are forgetting about acupuncture, dermatology, and telemedicine (similar to phone sex but with a […]

Dear Ace, What’s up with the Buckingham Branch train (which has, like, a total of five cars) which is forever parked on the tracks in front of the Transit Center? I get a lungful of diesel nearly every day I walk across the bridge on Avon Street…That’s how often the thing is sitting there idly […]