Taken for a ride?

Finally, all the broken eggs on the east end of the Downtown Mall are beginning to resemble an omelet. What looked like one big construction site outside City Hall is actually three separate projects—the Charlotte-sville Pavilion has played host to more big-time performers in the past month than the town has seen in the past […]

Here today, gone tamale

Dear Ace: What happened to the Atomic Burrito kiosk on the Downtown Mall? One minute, it was there, and then the next minute it was gone.—Ivana Taco Dear Ivana: Choking back a nostalgic lump in his throat, Ace felt his heart aching for a love recently lost: a burrito, backed up by a Mai-Tai and […]

Disorder in the court

The Albemarle County Circuit Court is open for business, but save for the eight people present (all but one being part of the proceedings) the place is empty the 12 rows of wooden gallery benches being merely ornamental. Behind the bench, beneath a gold-framed picture of Thomas Jefferson, Judge Paul Peatross sits front and center, […]

Recycling: Does not compute

Dear Ace: As any good modern consumer, over the years I’ve acquired a good amount of computer equipment. Rather than throwing the old models out, I’d much rather take them to a recycling center. Is there any such facility in, or near, Charlottesville?—Electronic Clutterbug Clutterbug: Just to test the limits of the City’s recycling program, […]

Junk food nation

In recent months the major food companies have been trying hard to convince Americans that they feel the pain of our expanding waistlines, especially when it comes to kids. Kraft announced it would no longer market Oreos to younger children, McDonald’s promoted itself as a salad producer and Coca-Cola said it won’t advertise to kids […]

Pleased to meat you

Dear Ace: As I was strolling to Fridays After 5, I noticed a sign in the window of the former Virginia Diode company on W. Main (the building with the cool blue tile work façade). The sign was written in Arabic. What does it mean and who occupies the space?—Stan Skrit Stan: Arabic, eh? Well, […]

HonkyTonk Man

Dwight Yoakam had the look: long and lean with the big cowboy hat and the facial demeanor that suggested lonely and liking it. He had the voice: that extra little twang that suggests an education away from the schoolhouse.  If you have yet to see Wedding Crashers, Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson play a pair […]

Pavilion: Totally grounded

Dear Ace: Admiring the new Charlottesville Pavilion, I noticed something, or rather a lack of something: lightning rods. Big and metal, the Pavilion is a prime electrical target. Where are the safety mechanisms?—Searching for Ground Ground: Growing up, Ace played on a Little League baseball team. Whenever an electrical storm approached, Big Daddy Atkins would […]

Finder’s keepers

Look closer. All around you, in the thick of the city and the wide-open expanse of the county, you’re missing something wonderful. It’s right in front of your eyes. You just have to stop and see, really see, what you can find. That’s the idea behind “You Are Where?” Sure, it’s a popular visual trivia […]

Beating the heat

Dear Ace: I’ve got central air in my house as well as a car that dips down to Kelvin if need be, and I’m hardly surviving this summer. Tell me, how are the homeless dealing with the heat wave?—Sympathetic Sweater Sweater: Heat wave?!? What heat wave? Then again, when you’re as ice cold as Ace, […]