Cultural preview


Armchair hikers: Cross the Pyrenees and don't leave home Published on Jul 3rd, 2003 0 comments If you love hiking but just can’t take the summer heat, or if you’re just in the mood to sit back and be inspired by someone else’s encounters with the wilderness, then Leonard Adkins is your man...
Dramatic sizzle: Summer shows warm local stages Published on Jul 3rd, 2003 0 comments Local stages are continuing to heat up as summer moves along. Live Arts preps for its annual festival; Ash Lawn opera singers rehearse for opening night (July 12); the Four County Players gear up for...
Boled over: Big trees suggest stories Published on Jul 3rd, 2003 0 comments Emilie Brzezinski came to modern art by an unusual path. Hardly the bohemian loft dweller, Brzezinski inhabited instead the upper echelon of the Washington, D.C., social scene as the wife of an...
Scooper bowl XI: Scream for more than ice cream Published on Jun 26th, 2003 0 comments It’s not easy to get kids to eat a healthy diet. My boys just don’t want to hear it when I try to preach the gospel of good nutrition. But you can bet they will be the first in line this Saturday at...
Hybrid: Skyline Awake-- the sound's familiar... Published on Jun 26th, 2003 0 comments Few bands easily walk the line between hardcore and straight-ahead pop/rock. Hardcore, for those of you of the older persuasion without kids, is probably the present day music least palatable to...
Sign up: Pick up your pen and get started Published on Jun 26th, 2003 0 comments The Charlottesville Writing Center is putting out an APB for wannabe writers. With just under two weeks till scheduled start date, the summer poetry course is looking like a non-starter, and the...
One of US: Taking the oath at Monticello Published on Jun 26th, 2003 0 comments Parades and fireworks are fine and dandy, but I’ve got a 4th of July event that could very likely bring tears to your eyes, or at least a big stars-and-stripes smile: watching 77 people from 35...
LAB experiments: Summer festival has full plate Published on Jun 26th, 2003 0 comments Summer is upon us, and that means it's time for Live Arts’ Fourth Annual Summer Theater Festival. "We're serving up slices of life– nine different ways– plus other surprises, filling the...
Allusive: Barbee more post- than modern Published on Jun 26th, 2003 0 comments Robert Barbee’s paintings appear to be the work of several painters, all of whom have a deep interest in modernist art, just not the same kinds. A quick stroll through the Barbee Retrospective at Les...
Phoenix rising: Partying for Potter Published on Jun 19th, 2003 0 comments Everyone at our house is a Harry Potter fan —even…ahem… the adults among us. After three years with nothing but movies to satisfy our craving for magical adventures from the crew at Hogwarts School...
Bright future: Taking the beaten path Published on Jun 19th, 2003 0 comments Like Indiana Jones before it, local bluegrass group King Wilkie has taken its name from the unlikeliest of sources. Instead of co-opting the moniker of a beloved childhood pooch, as was the case with...
Death to Deliverance Published on Jun 19th, 2003 0 comments It’s a curious way to sell an SUV– as the ultimate getaway car to escape from hillbillies. That’s the pitch of a recent TV ad starring a handful of urbane buddies on a camping trip. They’ve...
Solstice celebration: Salute the sun Published on Jun 19th, 2003 0 comments At least in the Northern Hemisphere, June 21 marks the Summer Solstice– the beginning of summer and the longest day of the year. Since just about the beginning of human time, people around the...
Success: Award-winning musical hits town Published on Jun 19th, 2003 0 comments The Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, opening this week, is the first production in UVA's Heritage Repertory Theater's summer season....
Filthy art: Exploring a building's bowels Published on Jun 19th, 2003 0 comments The Second Street Gallery gave digital artist Shannon Kennedy unprecedented access to the gallery facilities. That is, they let her root around in the chimney vents, the basement, and the boiler room...
Note-worthy: Kids Discover music Published on Jun 12th, 2003 0 comments Jumping, climbing, making noise. Singing, dancing, squealing, pounding. It’s what kids do. Not surprisingly, the Virginia Discovery Museum has found a way to wrestle all this lively activity into a...
Open Road: From far away comes home Published on Jun 12th, 2003 0 comments The songs on bluegrass/country-folk group Fred Eaglesmith & The Flathead Noodlers’ latest release, Balin, exude truth, joy, and honesty like few other roots releases I have heard this year, and...
Halcyon days: Scarce oil and great baseball Published on Jun 12th, 2003 0 comments It was crappy to be American in 1975. Residual malaise from Vietnam, Watergate, and the oil crisis, writes Doug Hornig in one of the more evocative phrases in his book, The Boys of October, left “the...
Green Wintergreen: Love your mother (nature) Published on Jun 12th, 2003 0 comments Now that winter’s abundant snow has finally melted, there are more than a few good— and very green— reasons to pile the kids, dogs, bikes, and golf clubs (or just your nature-lovin’ self) in the car...
Ain't that a shame? Late night at Live Arts Published on Jun 12th, 2003 0 comments Forget Dave Letterman and Jay Leno and their bevy of curvy actresses and likeable musical sidekicks. You can now opt for a more novel version of late-night entertainment if you’re shameless enough....
Slipping away: Photos catch life on the sly Published on Jun 12th, 2003 0 comments World traveler and photographer Will Kerner returns to the McGuffey with an exhibit of photos from Guatemala and Argentina. As with his previous Cuban spread, Kerner finds much that catches his eye...
Elementary! Help Mr. Holmes catch the crook Published on Jun 5th, 2003 0 comments Several years ago, my kids pulled a dusty tome, three inches thick, off the bookshelf…their father’s ancient copy of The Complete Sherlock Holmes. We’ve read aloud all 60 of these famous detective...
Storytime: Strong lyrics set jamgrass band apart Published on Jun 5th, 2003 0 comments Straight from the opening note of “Ricky Dunbar,” the first song of jamgrass band Cast Iron Filter’s (CIF) March performance at the Outback Lodge (the Outback folks were kind enough to give me a copy...
Helpful? Readers rate Bronfman book Published on Jun 5th, 2003 0 comments Here’s a confession that will shock none of you. The Hook’s Words columnist doesn’t always read the book in question. There are occasions when poor planning has sent me scurrying to Amazon’s “Look...
Fun for all: Follow herd to Nelson fest Published on Jun 5th, 2003 0 comments If, in the past 10 years, you’ve never taken the scenic drive down 29 South for Nelson County’s Summer Festival, which takes place on the gorgeous grounds of the Oak Ridge Estate, this might be the...
Variety shows: Heritage opens 30th season Published on Jun 5th, 2003 0 comments The Heritage Repertory Theater box office opened for business this week. Now in its 30th year of production, HRT is the summer professional theater operating out of the University of Virginia’s Drama...
Getting straight: Exhibit answers common question Published on Jun 5th, 2003 0 comments When I last visited the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal art gallery, I was accosted by a short, fuzzy-headed woman clearly in thrall to a certain object in the exhibit. “Would you like to know how the...
Get Rhythm: Scottsville fete makes a big splash Published on May 29th, 2003 0 comments In her book Scottsville on the River, Virginia Moore describes the “front porch era” of her sleepy little town in southern Albemarle in idyllic terms: a place where the Number 10 train arrived every...
Growing up: Devon's new CD goes Upstate Published on May 29th, 2003 0 comments By my calculations, Devon Sproule, or “Devon” as she’s better known around town, is at most 21 years old. She’s been written about in The Village Voice and The New Yorker, has toured nationally, and...
Keene for camping: Teddy went a-birdin' at Pine Knot Published on May 29th, 2003 0 comments Nestled in the woods near Keene is an unassuming clapboard cottage. Its unassuming appearance makes it surprising that this rustic abode was once a Presidential retreat. Back in the early part of the...