Dear Ace, St. Patrick’s Day is Friday and I’m on the hunt for some green beer. Where’s it at?—Seamus O’Drinkerson Hate to be the lead in your pot o’ gold, Seamus, but St. Patrick’s Day wasn’t always the celebration of drunkenness it is today. In Ireland it’s a day of reverence for patron Saint Patrick, […]
Dear Ace, St. Patrick’s Day is Friday and I’m on the hunt for some green beer. Where’s it at?—Seamus O’Drinkerson Hate to be the lead in your pot o’ gold, Seamus, but St. Patrick’s Day wasn’t always the celebration of drunkenness it is today. In Ireland it’s a day of reverence for patron Saint Patrick, […]
Charlottesville now has a direct link to a genuine political scandal in Washington. The high-profile fiasco features a corrupt defense contractor, illegal campaign donations, multimillion dollar bribes, a yacht and the tearful downfall of Randall “Duke” Cunningham, a Republican congressman from California. And on February 24, a surprise guilty plea by the former CEO of […]
Dear Ace: What’s all this I hear about a new call-in radio show for local newshounds?—Runov Atdamouf Runov: Finally, Charlottesville has something it lacked for as long as Ace can remember: a community sounding board for all of our fair city’s most frustrated, angry and outspoken laymen. What’s that? Oh, it’s just Ace’s editor reminding […]
Like so many eager lovebirds before them, a blushing bride walked down the softly lit aisle of the Las Vegas Bellagio Hotel’s wedding chapel on February 16 to meet her dashing groom and exchange vows. The elements of the ordinary were all there: bouquets, champagne, rings and vows, but otherwise this union was hardly run […]
Dear Ace, When the D.C. Council rejected a potential lease for a new baseball stadium in the capital, Virginia seemed poised to scoop up the Nationals. Hours later the council overturned its decision, and goodbye Major League Baseball in Virginia. Is all hope lost for big league ballgames in the Commonwealth?—Homer Hungry Let Ace put […]
The Idler, Tom Hodgkinson’s spunky little journal extolling the virtues of the profligate lifestyle, should be a must-read in business schools, if only to coerce the doomed students to wake up and drop out. Especially in his most recent book, How to Be Idle, a manifesto for living the sane life of leisure, Hodgkinson offers […]
Dear Ace: What is the big deal about the Charlottesville Ten Miler, anyway? I’ve lived in lots of places where there have been many races for runners, but you get the feeling around here that the Ten Miler is the World’s Only Race! Please explain.—Lace Yursneeks Lace: The first thing Ace needs to do is […]
McCormick Observatory is a historic landmark on par with the Rotunda and Alderman Library, but unlike those UVA icons, it’s easy to miss. At the end of a narrow, winding road up Mount Jefferson, the 120-year-old domed structure is like some archaic ruin far from civilization. Indeed, little has changed at the observatory, home to […]
Dear Ace: At a buffet the waitperson only brings beverages and takes away the plates. Is a 20 percent tip recommended or do you leave less at a buffet?—Phoebe Buffet Dear Phoebe: Here at C-VILLE the tipping wars have definitely been a topic of conversation. Any conscientious Rant observer will remember the battle that continued […]
Elvis famously crooned “I can’t help falling in love with you” and millions of hearts beat a little faster. What has been unknown until now is the never-recorded refrain to that chart-topping song: “Yeah, but I can help falling in love with you, pal.” Aah, unrequited love. It sucks. Even more so around Valentine’s Day. […]