Dozens of volunteers constantly restock shelves to keep the place bustling and worthy of repeated looks during the sale’s 10-day run, which could raise more than $100,000 for local libraries. As Bill Davis leans against the table next to the basement entrance of the Gordon Avenue Library, a middle-aged woman walks up, smiles and deposits […]
Sound decision
In 1975 there were reportedly 3 million record albums manufactured for sale in the United States. By 2004, that number hit 745 million. More than 10,000 CDs were released by hundreds of artists last year—that’s about 27 CDs per day. The recording industry has been in a boom cycle for the last 30 years, and […]
Checking out the Bookmobile
Checking out the Bookmobile Back to archived page Q: Darling Ace: I keep seeing this big ol’ bus motoring around the city and the county called the “Bookmobile.” Obviously it’s connected to the local library system, but I’m wondering—what does it do? Who uses it?—Bussed a Move A: Book learnin’ always makes Ace’s head spin. […]
Take charge
Spend some time in Tom Henzey’s dojo, and you’ll quickly realize that the message he imparts to women in his self-defense classes at 7 Tigers Tae Kwon Do is a simple one: Protecting yourself should be instinctive, reflexive and as natural as breathing. “Your instincts will keep you alive,” says the straight-talking black belt. “Unfortunately, […]
Weekend Cuppdate
Q: Hey Ace, longtime WVIR 29 news director Dave Cupp may have hightailed it out of town, but there are those of us who still miss him. I know he’s up in the Northeast and that he’s planning a new career in academia, but I want specifics! How’s he doing? Does he miss us? Is […]
Title bout
“Was it all just a dream?” Michael Moore asks at the beginning of Fahrenheit 9/11, his custard-pie-in-the-face salute to the Bush Administration for using weapons of mass destruction as weapons of mass distraction. Moore was referring to the previous four years, from hanging chads to Swift boats, but he might as well have been referring […]
Two tickets to Paradise
Q: My dear Ace, like any normal person, I’ve racked up a few parking tickets in my day. However, when the City slaps me one, sometimes it’s in a white ticket with postage-paid envelope, and sometimes it’s stuck inside a yellow envelope with no postage paid. What’s up with dat?—Peddie Krymes A: Oh, Peddie, like […]
Dark side of the vroom.
Q: Dear Ace, My eyesight’s not as sharp as it once was, especially when driving at night. I can navigate the city roads, no problem, but put me out on the dark county highways—especially Route 29N and Route 250 Pantops—and watch out! Why doesn’t the County provide streetlights on these two major highways leading into […]
Pol position
Q: Ace, I feel like a terrible American for saying this, but I am sick of this Democratic presidential primary stuff. Every time I look at the paper, turn on the TV or listen to NPR all I hear is Dean this, Kerry that, Edwards something else. Has the primary hoopla always been this in-your-face? […]
25 tips to improve your love life
Maybe your last date was during the Clinton Administration. Maybe you refer to your spouse as That Guy Who Uses All the Toothpaste. Maybe you just need a little tenderness tune-up. Fear not. As Valentine’s Day approaches, C-VILLE gets to the heart of the matter. Enroll in our Woo U, listen up and find how […]
Pitter patter
Q: Ace, baby darling, we all know you’re a hopeless romantic. So tell us true: Is there such a thing as love at first sight?—Luv Shaq A: Shaq, baby darling, Ace is many things (daring, suave, terribly, terribly handsome), but Ace is not hopeless. Otherwise, what you say is right: Ace always tells you true, […]
Candles in the windshield?
Q: I have noticed on Route 250E, on the north side from Sleepy Hollow Trailer Court to Floor Fashions of Virginia, there are several fields full of objects that look like candles. They have been there for a year or so, but nobody seems to know what these are. Please Ace, you’re our only hope.—Wicker […]
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.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Dial tones
Dear Ace, What’s this I hear about my cell phone number getting released to telemarketers?—Chatty Cathy Well, Chatty, if you thought when you purchased your handy-dandy cellular telephone-o that you were safe from the grasp of telemarketers everywhere, think again. Looks like those peaceful, uninterrupted nights around the family dinner table are to be no […]
’04 Score
Dylan sang that the times they were a-changin’. Bowie said to turn and face the ch-ch-changes. And in 2004, all that change really hit home for Charlottesville’s music fans. The year witnessed the fading out of some of the city’s most cherished traditions, whether grooving to Jimmy O at Fridays After 5, listening to locally […]