Odetta
How Charlottesville has changed. Ten years ago, the idea of hearing a 20th-century musical icon at a small club on a Downtown side street, not to mention on a Monday night in January, was inconceivable.
News
Practice round
The laws of pop music are beginning to resemble the laws of reproduction. Thousands of spermatozoa swim desperately to an egg to fulfill their destiny, but only one will get in. This kind of evolutionary pattern has ruined a number of rock ’n’ rollers: Alex Chilton, Phil Ochs, Johnny Thunders. Dreaming of the glory of […]
Stumped at the pump
Q: Hey Ace hole, I have an auto with a diesel engine and all’s been lovely ’til recently. Diesel has always been cheaper than gasoline, or about the same as regular. However, lately gasoline has dropped to as low as $1.64 per gallon while diesel is still over $2 at most stations. What gives? Has […]
Making light of herself
It’s another busy morning in the Casey household on Rugby Road. John Casey, a celebrated local novelist and UVA creative writing professor, is already out back in his writing shed. Meanwhile, his wife, McGuffey Art Center President Rosamond Casey, has done T’ai Chi, made breakfast and lunch for their youngest daughter, Julia, a student at […]
Charlottesville’s Internet tendency
Q: Dear Ace, I went to the City’s website the other day and clicked on a new little icon that sent me to this page that had advertisements on it, but also informational tourist videos about Charlottesville. Whaaaa? Is it an advertisement or is it something relating to City government and tourism?—Trava Ling-Willberry A: Your […]
Take your time
No doubt about it, the next few years will not be easy ones for American progressives. The Republican Party’s perceived “mandate” is likely to produce increased international belligerence and militarism, further attacks on the social safety net, increasing inequality and sharply weakened environmental protection. With so many fronts to fight back on, it will be […]
The pungent truth
Q: Dear Ace, What’s that smell?—Patchouli Clark A:Wake up and smell the roses, Patchouli, because that would be you. Naw, Ace kids because Ace loves! But in all seriousness. Given the distinct, often raunchy, smells that permeate our fair city, yours is a worthy question and took all of Ace’s well-honed investigative skills to sniff […]
Butt Out
“I haven’t had a cigarette in 15 years,” says Dr. David Hazelip. Prior to 1990, Hazelip was smoking an average of one pack a day. Now, as a smoking cessation consultant in Charlottesville, he uses his personal story of triumph over nicotine to help other aspiring nonsmokers. Hazelip says the clean slate of a new […]
Schools out early
Q: Dear Ace, I heard somewhere that the average Albemarle County school day is 20 minutes shorter than the most other schools in the state. That adds up over time to a crime! Can we really spare those precious minutes?—Charlie Frown A: Well, dear Charlie, do not believe everything you hear. Ace, for one, has […]
Cheap Shots ’04
Every year at about this time, we take a special look back at the news that was. And yes, we’re looking for the gaffes, the missteps, the you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me’s. Thankfully, 2004 was rich in them, mostly because public officials did so much to promote fear and divisiveness. And that was just the Sheriff’s office! Media organizations […]