It seemed like the perfect end to an era. Loretta Lynn, played by Sissy Spacek, and her husband, Oliver “Doolittle” Lynn, played by Tommy Lee Jones, driving away in their Jeep CJ before the backdrop of a Tennessee sunset. Cue the final number. The movie, 1980’s Coal Miner’s Daughter, would go on to win Spacek […]
Present tents
Dear Ace: Why is the Albemarle County Fair set to happen in August this year?—Fairly Confused Fairly: Ace also wonders about this unexplained change in date. He knows when he wants his funnel cakes and farm animals, and that’s in September, darn it! But nooo…this year Ace has to book his partying for August 2-7, […]
The play’s the thing
As a great man once said, “School’s out for summer.” Aside from the pool, the obvious place to take kids during the dog days of summer is to the park. Make that, to the playground, where the kids can entertain themselves on swings, slides, or by just looking up at the sky, as their caretakers […]
The sound and the fury
Dear Ace: I live within ear-shot of the railroad, so I have to know, what is going on with all of the railroad whistling?—Not Whistlin’ Dixie Whistlin’: All Ace can say is it’s about time someone asked about these railroad horns! Ace is fed up with late-night train horns unexpectedly interrupting his beauty sleep. Puffy-eyed, […]
High-chair anxiety
Dear Ace: Why do so many restaurants not have high-chairs? My wife and I discovered five that didn’t—and could have kept looking. Shouldn’t high-chairs be standard equipment? Is this town so pro-student that it can’t permit serving more people with children?—Sourpuss in Booths Sourpuss: Ace immediately posed your question to the experts, seasoned local parents. […]
How do we get out of here?
So far, the Aughts have been a rough decade for the airline industry. Domestically, combined losses be-tween 2001 and 2004 add up to more than $30 billion. US Airways, which handles half the traffic to and from Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport, stepped to the brink once again last September, entering bankruptcy protection for the second time in […]
Grass routes
Yo, Ace. Our letter carrier needed a note from us—no joke—to give him permission to not walk on our lawn. He said the post office wants its letter carriers to deliver mail quickly, so quickly that they are obligated by job requirement to walk on the lawn to get the mail to the doors of […]
Tracks of my tears
Dear Ace: All of my local short cuts involve railroad tracks, but sometimes I find that I end up wasting a lot of time waiting for the trains to go by. Is there a train schedule so I can plan a way to keep my short cuts short?—Impatience Railhopper Railhopper: To shortcut his detective work, […]
C-Ville 20
Your Starting Lineup. Some of them are well known. Others are strictly behind-the-scenes players. Some make life more livable. Some make us shout back at our TVs (and some give us more to look at on those televisions). Among them are actors, sculptors, teachers, politicians and businesspeople. They come in all shapes, sizes and ages, […]
Hide Receiver
Dear Ace: Like, where did all the pay phones go? I need to make a call, but can’t find a phone and don’t want to get a cell. —Anita Dialtone Good question, Anita! Even though Ace upgraded to wireless communications for his investigative calling, the dwindling numbers of local public phones have not gone unnoticed […]
The kids all write
Click here to read the story at sfweekly.com
Road to recovery
Road to recovery “Opium teaches only one thing, which is that aside from physical suffering, there is nothing real.” —André Malraux The wild monster The Toyota hatchback that Dwaine bought for $100 shuddered as it hit interstate speed. Smoke curled from the Marlboro between his fingers and slipped into the air rushing outside his […]
Duval or nothing
Hey Ace: You seem like a guy who knows what’s up with local TV. What ever happened to NBC Channel 29 morning anchor Bill Duval? Is he coming back or did he split town?—Earl E. Riser Earl, sometimes it’s hard to keep track of all the anchor-folk at NBC29. They seem to come and go […]
Viewer’s choice
On any given evening, you can turn on the TV and surf past images that not too long ago were considered too shocking, too politically contentious, or too offensive for national broadcast: interracial couples; visibly pregnant women; graphic violence; sex; homosexuality; foul language; even dancing, singing animated feces. Thanks to the rise of reality TV, […]
Boyd in the hood
Dear Ace: I was just wondering, who is Boyd, and what does he serve at his tavern?—Thirsty for Answers Thirsty: Reading your question, poor Ace felt an insatiable need to wet his whistle. So, he hopped in the Acemobile and headed toward Boyd Tavern, at the junction of Route 616 and Three Chop’t Road, just […]
Absent minded
When summer creeps through the front door, that’s the time some of us creep out the back. Playing hooky is a time- honored tradition; even bike-riding presidents are doing it these days! In celebration of the season, we’ve culled 10 ideas that will spice up your illicit time away from work or other obligations. Whether […]
Make the connection
Dear Ace: What’s happening on the Bypass near the 250 exit? I see lots of construction and dirt movers. McMansions? Rest stop? —Rhodes Scholar Rhodes: With all the earth-moving going on around town (or earth scorching, as the case may be—the first time Ace drove by the Hollymead Town Center site he thought a nuclear […]
Be Fruitful
The double doors of an A-frame barn open to an empty hall ending in a wall of windows. The intervening space is bathed in gentle southeastern morning light. The view looks northwest toward the forested backside of Carter Mountain. Charlottesville’s there somewhere, but it’s hidden behind blue mountains that overlap in rising layers. Red bud, […]
Sitting pretty
They may be homegrown fellas, but Stefan Lessard and Boyd Tinsley are having trouble navigating Belmont. The bassist and violinist for Dave Matthews Band are late for a Monday afternoon interview at Mas, the tapas restaurant on Monticello Road that’s owned by their manager. Tinsley finally pulls up in a yacht-sized Escalade and later Lessard […]
Mouthing off
Dear Dr. Ace, What’s this I hear about area dentists getting together to organize a dental clinic for low-income families? Where’s it going to be and how can I help?—Pearl E. White Well, Pearl, you ask an important question. Because if you aren’t born with good, healthy teeth you gotta buy them. Ace, for example, […]
Trickle down theory
How did that happen? Every time you sign the check for your water bill, you’re paying the price for years of misadventures in water supply planning. Our water rates include money for two water expansion plans that have since been flushed, even though the debts remain. Now the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority is under […]
Sonic Booom
Angst and network news go together like—oh, like Simon and Garfunkel, whose popularity peaked around the same time that Walter Cron-kite was signing off with the comforting fiction “that’s the way it is.” For more than a quarter of a century, the audience for the three evening network newscasts has been both shrinking and aging, […]
Who’s got your number?
Ace, it’s not an emergency or anything, but I’m curious about this community phone system that can alert the community to crisis by calling everyone in an imperiled area. Who gets to use it and for what? Earthquakes? UFOs? A GOP invasion?—Chatty Cathy Cathy, Cathy, Cathy, talking dogs are more likely to take over our […]