Topless rally: Was it a bust?
— See Story/Pictures, Pg. A10
Tribute channels ‘Ol’ Blue Eyes’ Frank Sinatra
— See Review, Pg. B1
Mtn. Moral Monday turnout? Amazing — See Story, Pg. A2
ILLE V E H AS ASHEVILLEʼS GREATEST NEWSPAPER
September 2013
Vol. 9, No. 10
An Independent Newspaper Serving Greater Asheville www.ashevilledailyplanet.com
3 mayoral hopefuls rip legislature in 1st face-off
FREE
Pubcycle makes splash on downtown streets
By JOHN NORTH
john@AshevilleDailyPlanet.com
The three candidates for the Asheville mayor’s job disagreed on a number of issues, but they concurred that the city is under attack from the state General Assembly, during their first public face-off Aug. 28 at the Country Club of Asheville. Among the major issues on which they took different stances were the $2 million in spending in the current budget for the Asheville Art Museum, downtown development and the city’s living wage ordinance. About 100 people attended the Leadership Asheville Forum that featured the three mayoral candidates, including Vice Mayor Esther Manheimer, former city employee John Miall and former Occupy Asheville member Martin Ramsey, who works as a waiter. In general, Miall slammed city actions and spending in recent years, while Manheimer defended what she termed the city’s investments in its infrastructure and standing up for its interests. Meanwhile, Ramsey espoused involving the citizenry in decision-making. See MAYORAL, Page A7
The Advice Goddess
Amy Alkon
His life is methy ....
Q: My girlfriend had a drug problem but claimed she’d been clean for seven years. It turns out she’s been using for the entire year we’ve been together. Two months ago, she went to rehab. I thought she was doing all right afterward, but then she admitted that she’d twice gotten high and had sex with a guy she met at rehab. I think I can forgive her, but I’m wondering whether I can ever believe her again. — Duped
Want to know the answer?
See ADVICE GODDESS, Page A22
Daily Planet Staff Photo
The Amazing Pubcycle made its debut in downtown Asheville on the weekend of Aug. 23-25, turning heads as 10 of its passengers also provide pedal power to move the bar on wheels up and down the central city’s relatively hilly terrain. For the full story, see Page A6.
Iconic AC-T columnist gets the ax By JOHN NORTH
john@AshevilleDailyPlanet.com
Susan Reinhardt, best-selling humor writer, syndicated columnist, speaker, stand-up comic, Southern Belle and iconic thrice-weekly columnist for the Asheville Citizen-Times for 26-1/2 years, was laid off from her job Aug. 21, prompting a public outpouring of grief and anger at the silencing of her voice. In the aftermath, the newspaper printed a number of letters to the editor that protested Reinhardt’s dismissal. She was among eight people at the AC-T who were let go in the most recent round of layoffs. The bestknown of the other staffers to the get the ax was blogger-reporter Jason Sandford. The newspaper reported the following in its Aug. 22 print edition: “The Asheville Citizen-Times laid off eight people Wednesday as part of a workforce reduction at its parent company, Gannett. The layoffs included six newsroom employees and were made in response to business conditions and advertising trends.” See ICONIC, Page A17
‘We just need you to come in ...’ On Wednesday, Aug. 21, I was sitting at the computer, marketing my new novel, “Chimes from a Cracked Southern Belle,” when the phone rang. I noticed the South Carolina area code, and figured it was my parents, who live in Spartanburg. I’d taken the week off, my first vacation at the Citizen-Times in many months. I’d been working there for more than 26 years, and felt I needed a break to catch up on things around the house and get my daughter ready to start school again. So I said, “Hello.” A woman I’d never met said she was from the Human Resources offices in Greenville, a site for much of our local paper’s corporate affairs. She uttered her spiel, carefully choosing her words. “What’s going on?” I asked. “Can you come in?” Her voice wasn’t
Susan Reinhardt
Special to the Daily Planet
mean, just robotic. “I’m on vacation,” I said. “We need to discuss changes with your job,” she said, as calmly as if she were telling me I needed to visit the dentist for a routine cleaning appointment. “Am I in trouble?” I asked, a wave of panicked heat spreading across my cheeks and forehead. “We just need you to come in,” she said. “Yes, there will be job changes, but you’re not in trouble.’ See REINHARDT, Page A6
A2 —September 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
Mountain Moral Monday slams N.C.’s legislature
From Staff Reports The Rev. William J. Barber II fired up a large crowd that showed up Aug. 4 for Mountain Moral Monday in downtown Asheville. Barber, president of the state chapter of the NAACP, was the keynote speaker and he and a host of other speakers repeatedly slammed the Republican-dominated state General Assembly for what he termed its legislation that is taking the state in the wrong direction. While Asheville police estimated the crowd at more than 5,000 people, others said the turnout numbered somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 people. Regardless, several political observers agreed that it was one of the largest demonstrations in Asheville in recent history. Many in attendance were carrying signs, singing protest songs and applauding the various speakers. Daily Planet Staff Photos Barber previously had led 13 weeks of Protesters vent their wrath at Mountain Moral Sunday. protests during a series of Moral Mondays in Raleigh. Asheville was his first venture in Other issues addressed by the speakers were health care the campaign outside of the state capital. He access, workers’ rights, immigration reform and education. and others judged it a resounding success. “Instead of depressing us, they’ve made us determined The protest expressed opposition to what its leaders call the disenfrashisement of voters, the take-away of women’s to fight,” Barber told the crowd. “Instead of dividing us, they have united us.” rights and the tormenting of people who are powerless.
Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy joins hands with the Rev. William J. Barber II to exort the crowd at the Aug. 4 Mountain Moral Monday rally in Pack Square Park in downtown Asheville. Barber also said the protests have become “personal not political,” and that a new generation of young voters have become involved. Thirty officers from the Asheville Police Department were assigned to the protest and no arrests were reported.
Asheville Daily Planet — September 2013 - A3
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A4 - August 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
Rockin’ out in Biltmore Park
The Vinyl Brothers band played in a free concert Aug. 3 at Town Square in Biltmore Park in South Asheville. Variously described as a throwback horn
Daily Planet Staff Photo
band, the Vinyl Brothers drew a large turnout. Among the crowd-pleasing favorites it played was the B-52s’ 1989 classic, “Love Shack.”
Brevard named top adventure college BREVARD — Brevard College recently was named a Top Adventure College by Blue Ridge Outdoor Magazine. Brevard was named No. 1 in the small-school bracket and second overall in the magazine’s MarchMadness-style competition. The magazine hosted a bracketstyle contest among 32 schools that “go above and beyond the call of
adventure.” In the race to the top, BC defeated 14 of its peer institutions, including Warren Wilson College, Western Carolina University, Davidson College, UNC Asheville, Maryville College and Lees-McRae College. “While we certainly would have loved to win the overall competition, we can’t complain too much about losing overall to
Appalachian State University, given that they have more students currently enrolled there than we have graduates,” Susan Cothern, BC vice president for Institutional Advancement, noted. “The fact that we finished the competition in second place is a huge testament to the extreme loyalty of our students, alumni and community,” Couthern said.
Have humor, will travel Susan Reinhardt, a well-known, awardwinning columnist is author of six books along with many anthologies. Her first novel, “Chimes from a Cracked Southern Belle” is now available and getting great reviews. Her bestselling book of humor, “Not Tonight Honey, Wait ‘Til I’m a Size 6,” is now in its 7th printing. This was followed by “Don’t Sleep with a Bubba,” A Book of the Year winner, and “Dishing with the Kitchen Virgin,” a best-selling collection of hilarious culinary disasters with a dash of PG-13 humor and a smidgeon of sex. All were published by Kensington in New York City. Her recent books include participating in the Malaprop’s Book Store bestseller, “Naked Came the Leaf Peeper,” in which a dozen of Western North Carolina’s most well-known authors went wild with a serial novel, each taking a turn with his or her own chapter. The book was highly praised by Charles Frazier, author of “Cold Mountain,” along with “Eat Pray Love’s” Elizabeth Gilbert. In November, 2012, she and co-author and editor DC Stanfa released “Fifty Shades
of Funny: Hook-ups, Break-ups, and Crackups,” featuring some of the most famous authors and bloggers around, including their own tales of romantic misadventure and blunders. Soon, she will release her biggest project to date: Her first novel, 10 years in the making titled, “Chimes from a Cracked Southern Belle.” In addition to writing, she’s a stand-up comedian, public speaker, public servant, taxi driver to her teen daughter, debit card to her 20-year-old son, and a borderline candidate to appear on “The Hoarders” Buried Alive!” if you saw her bedroom/office and the amount of books and stacked papers. She is mother of two: daughter Lindsey, 15, and son Niles, 20. They are her true loves and the very reason she BEGS her husband (second hubby) for Botox at least once a year. Reinhardt is involved in many charities, including child and animal welfare groups and is a community volunteer. To book her for speaking, comedy or book club events, call 1-828-338-0030.
To order your copy or copies of “Chimes from a Cracked Southern Belle,” visit
www.susanreinhardt.com Email for readers is
reinhardtnc@yahoo.com The novel is also available on Amazon.com, and independent bookstores should be able to order copies.
Asheville Daily Planet — September 2013 - A5
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A6 — September 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
Pubcycle offers Reinhardt chance to pedal while you drink The Amazing Pubcycle ran its first test run on downtown Asheville streets in mid-August and is now in regular operation. The rolling downtown bar departs at various times for 90-minute tours from in front of the Aloft Hotel at 51 Biltmore Avenue. The pubcycle business is owned by the high-energy Shawn Vergrugghe, who moved to Asheville from Detroit about a year ago. The pubcycle offers seating for five people on each side, all with pedals to work, and three seats in the rear, with no pedals. It also has a driver — and a battery-powered auxiliary electric engine to assist riders, if needed, on steep hills. It averages about 3 miles Shawn Verbrugghe per hour uphill and a bit faster downhill. Besides the charm of pedaling a bar down a street, pubcyclists soon discover that they are cheered on by onlookers as something akin to superheroes. Verbrugghe said he has been working on launching the rolling bar business in Asheville since a seatmate on a flight from Detroit to Minneapolis showed him pictures of a pubcycle. He and his wife had been planning to move to Asheville and, since there was not already a pubcycle here, decided it would be “fun to do it here.” The standard pubcycle, made of tubular steel, costs about $45,500 and weighs about 2,000 pounds.
Continued from Page A1 The next thing I did was call my brilliant and wonderful editor who informed me that in the newsroom that very day, my co-workers were getting the same phone call from the same woman. Every one of these dear and dedicated staff members left the meetings with this woman wearing faces of grief, shock and just utter disbelief. They clutched their packet of dismal papers. Then, they cleaned their desks as everyone remaining watched and stared at their phones, wondering if they’d also get “the call.” I was lucky. My desk has been from home for the past few years. I just assumed because I took a huge pay cut to work from home, I’d be safe, shielded by Gannett’s constant layoffs across the nation. Wrong. No one is immune. Every one of the eight of us let go had stellar performances on the job. The former publisher, Randy Hammer, who recently retired “early,” had been told by the higher-ups to create a list of 20 employees, ranking us for the firing squad. I was a member of the “Eight Down, Who’s Next To Go Club?” I tried to take it like a big girl, one whose mama raised her right. I had so many emotions crowding my thoughts, it was hard to say exactly how I felt upon leaving this woman’s office. Many people who lose jobs also feel a sense of not just anger, but a robbing of identity. I asked myself, “Am I a columnist?” And is that alone and in itself all I am? I’d been doing columns since 1995, a three-times a week mix of humor, human interest, trending news, and other topics I found entertaining or in need of the public’s assistance.
But the question was, “Who Am I Now?” My father, a wise and self-made man who retired from wonderful in a career with Milliken & Company, sent me a beautiful letter, letting me know that I was much more than a job definition. I was a mother, a daughter, a wife, a friend, and also, an author with five books to my credit. He told me the term “author” was my career definition, and no one could take that away. The hardest part of being set free, besides the impersonal way in which “corporate” gave us the pink slip without explaining any of it in the newspaper’s pages, was a complete freak-out over health coverage. I knew I couldn’t afford Cobra. I knew we had pre-existing conditions. This is what haunted me far more than anger or resentment, which quickly dissipated to my surprise. People often ask: “Didn’t you feel used?” The answer is no. I gained so much in being able to change lives with my work. I was also able to parlay my column writing into a career of book and novel writing, along with public speaking and even stand-up comedy gigs. I had many delightful years at the paper, and have much love and respect for my co-workers. I want them to prosper and do well in the world of newspaper uncertainty My mission was to go out with grace and a bit of class still intact. I think I did that. I just want to thank the entire region of Western North Carolina for supporting me and allowing me to tell your stories. Thanks as well for all the letters and emails of encouragement. They surely helped heal me. Here’s my parting quote: “I’m not bitter…I’m better.” So find me on FaceBook at “Susan Gambrell Reinhardt or reinhardtnc@yahoo.com. Namaste!
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Mayoral
Asheville Daily Planet — September 2013— A7
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Continued from Page A1
Serving as the moderator of the event was Edward Hay, who juggled questions written by attendees on 3x5 notecards. Hay is a former Asheville vice mayor and current vice president of Leadership Asheville. In opening remarks, Miall said a big concern for him is the mayor’s and City Council’s “stewardship” in recent years. At a public meeting on April 3, for instance, he said the citizenry was told by city officials that “the sky is falling” and that “things were really bad.” Later, those dire predictions proved erroneous, he said. “The bottom line is, the city really has struggled with its finances... As (a former) risk manager for the City of Asheville, I literally put money back in people’s pockets” and that none of his opponents have shown that capability. He added that “past behavior predicts future behavior” and “we’ve not done a good job of sustaining relationships.” In a direct shot at the vice mayor, Miall said, “There’s a great deal said about Mrs. Manheimer being an attorney. I’ve not seen that that knowledge and experience has served us well” as a city. “We lost an airport.... I’m prepared to be and will be a full-time mayor for the City of Asheville. Next, Manheimer noted she is a partner in Van Winkle Law Firm, where she specializes in property law. She added that she is married to Mike Harris, a teacher at Enka Middle School. The vice mayor asserted, “I want to lead this community as we move forward together... I came to know Asheville in a very intimate way — I spent my first year as a volunteer for Meals on Wheels. That’s when my eyes opened to our community and our community needs.” Manheimer added that she went on to earn her master’s and law degrees and returned to Asheville, where she served on the board of the Jewish Community Center. The third mayoral candidate, Ramsey, said he has lived in Asheville for eight years, working in the service industry. He termed himself “a community activist, working on local issues.” He noted that he is a lifelong North Carolina resident, having been raised in the rural northeast part of the state. He attended college at UNC Wilmington. “I pride my-
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John Miall Esther Manheimer (left) and Martin Ramsey self on compassion and being able to work numbers show that 9,000 people passed with everyone.” through the museum last year and Mial Ramsey said his platform as a candidate asked, rhetoricaly, “Where are the metincludes “meaningful democracy,” which rics?” “must be extended beyond the voting What’s more, he said, “Other people are booth.” He also spoke of “participatory going to do without because of that decibudgeting.” sion” by council and the mayor. “We need Another plank in his platform involves measurable metrics. creating a nonprofit community developManheimer responded to the same quesment corporation, which, Ramsey said, tion by noting that “cities like Asheville “democratizes wealth.” rely monthly on property taxes. To ensure He added, “The goal is to create the jobs that, you make sure you invest in the infrathat the job-creators forgot to make.” stucture” of the city. While all three mayoral candidates “The art museum is in Pack Place and $2 expressed similar sentiments on their view million represents 10 percent of the amount of the state General Assembly treating needed to redevelop that building,” she Asheville as an enemy, Ramsey was, by far, said. the most outspoken in his negativity toward the legislature. “Let’s keep them from burning the place (Asheville) down in the meantime,” he said in reference to action by the General Assembly until the next election could possibly change the dynamic. On a question about Pack Place and the funding of the art museum, Ramsey said, “I do think that we need to place power over our discretionary budget into the hands of Asheville taxpayers. I feel like ceding of authority to five people is fundamentally undemocratic....” To that question, Miall said, “I am fundamentally opposed to giving $2 million to the Asheville Art Museum.” He said the
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A8 - September 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
Commissioner Mike Fryar to give back 1.7% pay hike; all the others to keep theirs From Staff Reports Mike Fryar stood alone when he recently stated that he will turn down the 1.7 percent pay increase that the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners approved for themselves in July. Indeed, Fryar, a board member who lives in Fairview, was the only one to cast a “no” vote when the commissioners passed the 2013-14 county budget 6-1, which included the raise. Fryar said at the time that he was opposed to the county budget because it included an 8 percent boost in the property taxes. On Aug. 29, he said he was not aware of the pay increase that was in the budget. “If I’d know it up front, it wouldn’t have happened,” he was quoted as telling the Asheville Citizen-Times. The increase beginning in July was approved with no formal discussion at the commissioners’ meeting. Before he was elected to his commissioners’ seat, Fryar, as a concerned taxpayer, raised the issue of reducing the board’s compensation after learning that they were the highest paid in the state. In the aftermath, the commissioners cut their pay in February 2011. However, a recent study shows that the Buncombe commissioners’ pay ranked second among commissioners in North Carolina during the last budget year.
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With the recent increase, annual salaries for regular commissioners rose from $24,475 to $26,925 per year. The chairman and vice chairman posts pay even more. Fryar reporteddly spoke with Rob Mike Fryar Thornberry, county human resources director, asking that he not receive the pay increase. In an email followup to Thornberry and County Manager Wanda Greene on Sept. 1, Fryar stated, “I am not in favor of any pay raise during my four-year term. I do not feel that a pay raise is appropriate after taxes were raised 8 percent on the citizens of Buncombe County.” Fryar later told the AC-T that the pay boost is “not right. I think we make a decent amount now.” The raise,which matches the percentage given to county employees in April, is tied to the rate of inflation. According to Greene, the commissioners have traditionally received the same increase as other county employees and it is included in the budget ordinance.
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Teachers stage protest against N.C. legislation
Asheville Daily Planet — September 2013 — A9
From Staff Reports
Dozens of Buncombe County teachers staged a protest Aug. 15 in downtown Asheville against education cuts that they claim have been made by the Republicandominated state General Assembly and that they say will have a long-term bad impact on the state’s economy. Speakers at the rally also charged that spending cuts are nudging teachers out of the profession. The event, planned by members of the North Carolina Association of Educators, Paul Cupp (red shirt) and Michael Anderdrew about 200 teachers and sympathizers son, both of whom are special education to Pack Square Park. teachers at T.C. Roberson High School, “We are demoralizing our teachers show their support for the North Caroand destroying our public schools —and lina Association of Educators after the we’ve got to fix that,” former congresrally. sional candidate Patsy Keever, who was Republican Gov. Pat McCrory accountable among the speakers, told the protesters. for cuts to education.. At the time of her speech, Keever was the The state’s $7.868 billion K-12 educachairwoman of the Buncombe County Demotion budget — an increase of $361 million cratic Party. In mid-August, she was elected over last year — is $117 million short of first vice chair of the North Carolina Demowhat is needed to maintain the system’s cratic Party and resigned her BCDP post. service level from 2012-13, they contend. The NCEA organizers said they planned Republicans, including McCrory, have the rally in response to classroom budget lauded the increase in spending year-over-year. cuts. Under the new budget, thousands of education jobs will be cut, salaries will drop, However, critics have pointed to inflation, lack of raises and rising costs in arguing the spendand class sizes will balloon, they added. However, Republicans say education funding plan is a decrease. ing actually increased this year. In Buncombe, the number of teacher asThe rally is part of a statewide push by sistant positions will drop from 670 to 636. the NCEA and Progress NC called “Get Those numbers include part-time positions. Your Facts Straight!” It is intended to hold Jonathan Wainscot, who is a parent and
Way beyond hip and trendy Asheville Daily Planet
Daily Planet Staff Photos
Rodney Ellis, president of the North Carolina Association of Educators, addresses teachers and their supporters at an Aug. 15 rally in Pack Square Park in Asheville. City Council candidate, told the crowd that a decrease in education spending would have a negative long term impact on Asheville’s economy for businesses as well as for people deciding whether to move to the city. He said Asheville needs to think up creative ideas to finance schools. “This is a crisis in our city,” he said. “This is not a secondary concern. This is the biggest thing we could be working on right now.” A poll released Aug. 14 showed McCrory’s approval rating dropped to 39 percent, with 51 percent disapproving
of the job he is doing, according to Raleighbased Public Policy Polling. Just 33 percent said they supported the GOP-backed budget, and half think the Republican-controlled General Assembly is causing the state national embarrassment, according to the poll.
A10 - September 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
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From Staff Reports
About a dozen women tooks off their tops, purportedly for the cause of women’s equality, while several hundred people — mostly male spectators with cameras — observed the spectacle during the third annual GoTopless. * org rally Aug. 25 in the area behind the Vance Monument. Organizer Jeff Johnson, who is based in Huntsville, Ala., gave a 10-minute speech and several of the topless women spoke to those 0001904920 0001904920 Berry Newt Plemmons attending on a more casual basis about the Bate Berry Bate Newt Plemmons Bows! purpose of the rally. Call for appointment 828-508-6667 Factory Direct 828-231-8169 Call for appointment 828-508-6667 inBows! 828-231-8169 in Guns & His group says laws and social stigmas Guns & Sweeten Call for appointment Rebates Up to against women being topless inoff public are Creek Rd. next week off Sweeten Creek Rd. Call for appointment next week unfair. 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Asheville Daily Planet — September 2013 — A11
Marker to honor ‘Asheville’s own’ Jimmie Rodgers
Jimmie Rodgers will be honored with the dedication of a N.C. Highway Historical Marker at 2 p.m. Sept. 8 on Haywood Street at Battery Park Avenue, as part of Jimmie Rodgers Day in Asheville. Rodgers moved to Asheville in 1927 and worked as a railway brakeman, janitor, cab driver and even a city detective. But it was appearances on Asheville radio station WWNC-AM (570) that gave him his big break in music. He went on to become known as the “singing brakeman” or “yodeling cowboy.” Rogers played live weekly with his friend Otis Kuykendall on WWNC, beginning in April 1927. Other musicians were added and the group was known as the Tenneva Ramblers and later as the Jimmie Rodgers Entertainers. WWNC featured oldtime country musicians and broadcast from the Flat Iron Building. Record producer Ralph Peer captured
Rodgers’ first two tracks on Aug. 4, 1927. “The Soldier’s Sweetheart” and “Sleep, Baby, Sleep,” were recorded in Bristol, Tenn. The well-known Carter Family also made their first recordings that week in what became known as the “Big Bang of Country Music.” When a successful Rodgers returned to Asheville in December 1929, he was touted as “Asheville’s Own.” He died of tuberculosis in 1933. In addition to the 2 p.m. public highway marker dedication, there will be a parade with street musicians and performers leading to a ticketed musical celebration at 4 p.m. at the Asheville Music Hall at 31 Patton Avenue downtown. For information on the highway marker dedication, call (919) 807-7290. For information on the musical celebration, visit http://ashevillemusichall.com/musicschedule/event/jimmie-rodgers-day/.
Image courtesy of the Birthplace of Country Music Alliance
Jimmie Rodgers (left) and the Carter Family in 1931.
A12 - September 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
Asheville Daily Planet — September 2013 — A13
A14 — September 2013 — Asheville Daily Planet
Asheville Daily Planet — September 2013— A15
Universalist Fellowship of Hendersonville, Kanuga Road and Price Street, Hendersonville. Terry Wetton will play both guitar and piano in a concert titled “Bluegrass to Bach.” He originally is from England. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. Suggested donation is $15. Fresh-baked goodies will be available during intermission.
Faith Notes Send us your faith notes
Monday, Sept. 16
Please submit items to the Faith Notes by noon on the third Wednesday of each month, via email, at spirituality@ashevilledailyplanet.com, or fax to 252-6567, or mail c/o The Daily Planet, P.O. Box 8490, Asheville, N.C. 28814-8490. Submissions will be accepted and printed at the discretion of the editor, space permitting. To place an ad for a faith event, call 252-6565.
Board Meeting, 6 p.m., Unity Center, 2041 Old Fanning Bridge Rd., Mills River. the Unity Board will meet and the public is welcome to attend.
Friday, Sept. 20
CONCERT, 7 p.m., First Baptist Church of Maggie Valley, 2624 Soco Rd., Maggie Valley. Damaris
Carbaugh, who has been a soloist for the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir for many years, will perform.
Sunday, Oct. 13
COFFEEHOUSE CONCERT, 7 p.m., Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, 1 Edwin Place, Asheville. The Mountain Spirit Coffee House monthly concert series will continue. Suggested donations are $15 for the public, $10 for students and free for children ages 14 and younger.
Sunday, Nov. 10
COFFEEHOUSE CONCERT, 7 p.m., Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, 1 Edwin Place, Asheville. The Mountain Spirit Coffee House monthly concert series will continue.
Tuesday, Sept. 3
BARBECUE, 6 p.m., Groce United Methodist Church, 954 Tunnel Rd., Asheville. A Letters From Dad Kickoff Barbecue will be held. Men are invited on a journey to leave a legacy of faith, hope and love through the lost art of letter-writing. To reserve a space, call 298-7647. PUB CHAT, 6 p.m., Mezzaluna restaurant, 226 N. Main St., downtown Hendersonville. The Unity Center in Mills River will hold “Truth on Tap,” a pub chat with the Rev. Chad O’Shea on matters spiritual and otherwise. A love offering will be taken. SPIRITUAL HEALING/PRACTICE, 6 p.m., Christian Science Reading Room, Room 121, 2 Wall St., Asheville. A meeting on spiritual healing and practice will be held.
Wednesday, Sept. 4
TAIZE SERVICE, 6:15 p.m., Montmorend United Methodist Church, 89 Old Candler Town Rd., Candler. A contemplative service will feature singing, meditation and folk harp. BOOK STUDY, 7-9 p.m., Unity Center, 2041 Old Fanning Bridge Rd., Mills River. The Rev. Pat Vaneema will lead a book study of “The Four Agreements” that will conclude on Sept. 4. A love offering will be taken.
Friday, Sept. 6
FUNDRAISER DINNER, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Hopkins Chapel AME Zion Church, 21 College Place, Asheville. The church will hold a fundraiser dinner, featuring fish and pork chops for $8. For more information, call 254-6098.
Saturday, Sept. 7
CAR/TRUCK/MOTORCYCLE SHOW, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Avery’s Creek United Methodist Church, corner of Brevard Road and Glen Bridge S.E., Arden. A car, truck and motorcycle show will be held. To show a vehicle, the cost is $10 in advance and $15 on the day of the show. Also featured will be a corn-hole tournament for $10 per team, door prizes, a bake sale and concessions. CHURCH TOUR, 10 a.m., St. James Episcopal Church, 766 N. Main St., Hendersonville. A church tour will include viewing gothic architecture, stained glass windows,an English-made pipe organ and tower bells, as well as the guild of change-ringers as they practice pulling ropes. No reservations are necessary.
Sunday, Sept. 8
HOMECOMING, 11 a.m., West Canton Baptist Church, 75 Lowe St. (off Old Clyde Road), Canton. The church’s homecoming will feature music by the Coffee Branch Boys. A covered-dish luncheon will follow the service. COFFEEHOUSE CONCERT, 7 p.m., Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, 1 Edwin Place, Asheville. Ben Bradford will perform in the Mountain Spirit Coffee House
Meticulous
Singer-songwrier Terry Wetton, originally from England, will perform “Bluegrass to Bach” at 7 p.m. Sept. 14 at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Hendersonville. monthly concert series. Suggested donations are $15 for the public, $10 for students and free for children ages 14 and younger.
Tuesday, Sept. 10
RETREAT, various times, Kanuga Conference Center, Hendersonville. Unity Ministers of the Mid-Atlantic States will hold the annual retreat from Sept. 10 through Sept. 13. The public is invited to the retreat full of music, keynote speakers (Karl Anthony and Barry Dennis, among others), meditation, classes led by the ministers of UMMAS, talent show, labyrinth walk, nature, ceremony, tai chi and yoga and more. The ministers and Unity members will attend from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and beyond. Admission for commuters is $65 per pay or $175 for the entire conference, including lunch and dinner. However, those rates require preregistration by calling 891-8700. Details are available on the website at www.ummas.org/Retreat.html.
Thurs., Sept. 12
World Day of Prayer RETREAT, 12:01 a.m.-midnight, Kanuga Conference Center, Hendersonville. Unity’s annual World Day of Prayer will be held at the UMMAS retreat rather than at the Unity Center in Mills River. Unity noted that, 20 years ago, it created World Day of Prayer, which is held the second Thursday of each September, “as a global effort to uplift ourselves ... our loved ones ... our world.” Everyone is invited to join Unity people from all over the world in prayer. For more information, visit www.worlddayofprayer.org. For prayer requests, call 891-8700 or email unity@unitync.net.
Saturday, Sept. 14
BLUEGRASS TO BACH CONCERT, 7 p.m., Unitarian
Covenant Reformed
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 281 Edgewood Rd. • Asheville, N.C. 28804
828-253-6578
www.covenantreformed.net Wednesday— 7 p.m. Prayer/Bible Study Sunday— 9:30 a.m. Sunday School 11 a.m. Worship • 6 p.m. Worship
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References Available
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Bookstore Meeting Rooms
130 Shelburne Road West Asheville 252-5010 www.unityofasheville.com
New Books by Dr. Bob Holt, M.D. at Lulu Dot Com “Jesus in India,” etc. www.healthark.com
email: decoderdoc@juno.com
Unity Center
A Church Family for ONE and ALL Come as you are!
Waynesville
Sunday Services Sunday Services 10:00 a.m 9:30am & 11:00am Serving WNC for 60 years
891-8700 / 684-3798
2041 Old Fanning Bridge Rd. Mills River 28759 Rev. Chad O’Shea
www.unitync.net
A16 — September 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
Commentary
4 reasons conservatives should embrace electric cars
By DAVE ERB
Special to the Daily Planet
It’s an odd fact of modern American life that technologies are now assigned political views, regardless of the technologies’ merits or their practitioners’ politics. Plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) have been deemed liberal. As a result, many conservatives instinctively oppose PEVs, whether pure battery vehicles (BEVs) like the Nissan Leaf or plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) like the Chevy Volt. This silliness reaches full flood in the online forums accompanying media coverage of PEVs. Detractors ignorantly parrot partisan political disinformation, like Sandy Munro’s contorted claim that it costs $75,000 to build a Volt. Many comments boil down to a simple declaration: “I wouldn’t buy one of the available PEVs.” Do these people really think anyone cares about their tastes? Do they gripe that Corvettes are lousy for hauling plywood? Do they resent a Bentley’s six figure pricetag? Do they haunt the Edsel Club website, moaning that members’ cars are, ... , well, ... , Edsels? Maybe they work for oil companies, or shorted Tesla’s stock. Regardless, the topic deserves a more mature discussion. Toward that end, here are four reasons why true conservatives should welcome PEVs. Reason 1 - PEVs Conserve Their Owners’ Money Gasoline contains 33.7 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy per gallon, so electricity at $0.12 per kWh equates to gas at $4.05 a gallon. But that’s only half the story. PEVs use purchased energy far more efficiently than internal combustion vehicles (ICVs). A Leaf from Nissan’s Tennessee factory consumes 290 watt-hours per mile, equivalent to 116 miles per gallon on gasoline. American drivers average about 1000 miles a month. If gas costs $3.00 per gallon and electricity is $0.12 per kWh, a Leaf uses $418 worth of energy per year, a Prius (50 mpg) takes $720, and the average 2013 car (23 mpg) consumes $1565. Modern PEV batteries and ICV engines have similar costs and lifespans. Electric motors and controllers cost less than automatic transmissions, and PEVs require less maintenance than ICVs. All new cars are expensive, but as PEVs are sold used, we’ll see a wider range of prices. Eventually, simplicity and volume production will make BEVs cheaper than ICVs.
Reason 2 - PEVs Conserve All Drivers’ Money Gasoline is one of the world’s most price inelastic commodities. A one percent change in supply or demand changes the price twenty percent. If five percent of America’s drivers switch to electricity, the other 95 percent buy fuel at half price. A savings of just $0.25 a gallon leaves over $30 billion a year in U.S. consumers’ pockets. Every contractor who depends on a 12 mpg pickup for his living should hope his neighbors buy PEVs. Those savings will more than offset the federal subsidies on each manufacturer’s first 200,000 PEVs. In 2012, GM sold 2.6 million cars (including 23,461 Volts) in a total U.S. market of 14.5 million. At that rate, GM would need eight years to collect its limit ($1.5 billion). And, contrary to divisive partisan rhetoric, subsidies support the manufacturers developing PEVs, not the well-heeled early adopters buying them. Automakers and their dealers sell vehicles for the highest price the market will bear, finagling sticker prices, discounts, rebates, financing, and trade-ins to stack the deck. Subsidies are just one more card in the game. Reason 3 - PEVs Enhance American Security The U.S. simultaneously imports and exports oil. Net imports (imports minus exports) presently represent about 40 percent of U.S. consumption, a historic low due to major recent increases in domestic production. About 30 percent of net imports come from the Persian Gulf. In other words, one of every nine barrels of oil we consume was bought from folks with names like bin Laden, and required the taxpayer-subsidized protection of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet. If you’d rather avoid giant energy companies (oil and electric) altogether, local solar installers offer an alternative: off-grid photovoltaic (PV, solar electric) systems. You may want to look more kindly upon the power company, though. Financially, on-grid PV is the alley-oop pass to a PEV slam dunk, equivalent to locking in American gasoline at under a dollar a gallon for several decades. That’s why a third of PEV owners already have sufficient PV to charge their cars, and another fifth intend to install it. Reason 4 - “EV” Means “Excellent Vehicle”
Photo courtesy of Lightning Motorcycles)
Carlin Dunne’s electric Lightning placed first among 83 motorcycles (8th of 146 vehicles overall) at the 2013 Pikes Peak Hill Climb. Nobuhiro Tajima’s electric car was 5th overall.
Photo courtesy of Brightfield Transportation Solutions
The Asheville Police Department's Chevy Volt drives on sunshine captured by the city's Brightfield charging station. To engineers, vehicles are a design space, like a sculptor’s chunk of stone. The design envelope for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) completely encompasses ICVs, BEVs, and much more. At worst, an HEV design whittles down to an ICV or BEV. In practical terms, this means that an HEV can be designed to perform any mission at least as well as an ICV, usually better. Numerous missions can only be accomplished by HEVs. Racing fans can finally observe what engineers have understood for years. HEVs are now the fastest cars in the 24 Hours of LeMans. They’re so dominant that race organizers had to rewrite the rules, handicapping HEVs in an attempt to keep existing ICV racers at least marginally competitive. Motorsports are also showcasing BEV potential. BEVs have run quarter mile times (6.940 seconds) and trap speeds (201.37 mph) that would have beaten unlimited Top Fuelers in the mid-1960s. The winning motorcycle in this year’s Pikes Peak Hill Climb was a BEV. Anyone who’s seen a Tesla Roadster in an autocross knows that BEVs can combine 200 mile range, supercar acceleration, and razorsharp handling. Teslas are expensive, and Volts are terrible pickup trucks. But electric motors have stump-pulling torque, perfect for towing. They’re whisper quiet, with low NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) levels that customers covet and ICV engineers spend millions trying to match. A critical mass of the auto industry’s top executives now expect electrified drivetrains (HEV and BEV) to populate most of the market, with many niches filled by PEVs. Transportation’s future is accessible today. If you’re hesitant to go, you’re welcome to wait. It’s a free country. But, if you’re one of those people who reflexively shout down PEVs despite having no actual experience with them, please turn up your hearing aids and merge right. You’re blocking the fast lane. • EDITOR’S NOTE: In 32 years as an automotive engineer, Dave Erb has developed vehicles using gasoline, diesel,
biodiesel, alcohol, natural gas, electric, and (since 1986) hybrid electric powertrains. He will be speaking on “Sustainable Transportation: A Future Worth Creating” at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 15 at UNC Asheville’s Reuter Center.
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Iconic
Continued from Page A1 “I just want to go out like a lady, with sass but class,” Reinhardt told the Daily Planet in a Aug. 30 telephone interview. She noted that, on Aug. 21, “one by one, in the office, I heard the phone would ring and if you got called upstairs, you’d know what would happen. All seven who were there were called on their telephones .... “I was on vacation... at my home office working on some feature projects.” Reinhardt noted that early in the afternoon, she got a call from a Gannett human resources officer, based in Greenville, saying, “I’m in Asheville. We need you to come in to talk about your job.” Concerned, Reinhardt said, “I called my editor, Bruce Steele. He’s great. He let me know that ‘Yeah, they’re letting people go, Susan.’ He had tears in his voice.” Reinhardt said the HR officer “was polite. I don’t know how anybody would want to have her job. She was polite. She didn’t know any of us because she was from Greenville. She was impersonal....” At that point, the long-time AC-T columnist pointed out, “The body and mind, when something tragic happens, immediately go into a state of shock.... I didn’t cry until the next day. It took me 24 hours to go from shock to grief. I cried for 30 minutes. “I also have another saying, ‘Tears are God’s Valium.’ I worked there 26-1/2 years — and only took 48 hours (for her) to get over the worst part.” So what was the reason given for letting her go? Reinhardt said that she was told by the HR officer that “all of you had stellar performances — it wasn’t about that. They said it was about corporate revenue.” Upon departing the meeting, she noted, “I just went into the newsroom and gave a high-five and a peace sign — and few hugs. The mood of the newsroom was awful. They’re so sympathetic. I wasn’t there when it happened,” since she was on vacation and has been working from her home for the newspaper. “I have been told that Randy Hammer, who recently quit (as the AC-T’s publisher), was the one who put 20 names on the list. But eight names were chosen to be laid off. That was disappointing to me. Like the others, we thought we had good relations with him. I’m trying not to be mad at him.” While some have said her layoff may be a blessing in disguise, Reinhardt said, “I really hate the phrase.” She added, “I have great feelings for my coworkers. If I had been one of the ones spared that day, I’d feel liked I’d be stressed everyday, like: Is this going to happen again? With the way newspapers are, it’s not if it’s going to happen again, but when it’s going to happen again.” Further, Reinhardt observed that, “a lot of times, it’s when people are aging out and they’re getting a little expensive” that is the time when companies let them go. With her characteristic spunk, she asserted, “What do you think? You’re going to put this old mare for Elmer’s to scoop up for some glue. No, I’m not an old mare — I’m still a filly on the inside.” In summing up what happened, Reinshardt said, “Myself, along with seven others, were laid off, effective right then. It came as a shock to me, as I was one of the lower-paid people, as I worked from home, writing three columns per week.” She noted that, “about three or four years ago, it was better for me mentally and physically to work from home. So the trade-off was worth it,” even though Reinhardt said she took a big pay cut to go that route. As for layoffs without notice, she said,
“No one is immune” — and that anyone’s position could be replaced. “The main thing I’m really, truly going to miss is being able to work with other people. I was able to get a homeless woman off the streets into a home” through writing about the situation in her column. “I saved a family, who had a father (who was) very ill, (enabling them) to keep their home and keep going... through my column, “I think that’s my legacy... ‘Are these 26 years wasted?’ I ask myself. Through my ‘ministry,’ I was able to help so many people. “On the flip side of the serious columns,” Reinhardt said, “I was sort of an Erma Bombeck with more sass.” Still, Reinhardt admitted, “There’s a feeling when you lose your job that you lose identity. I’m no longer a ‘columnist.’ I’m more than that. I’m a mother, a daughter, a wife and a friend.” With a wry laugh, she asserted, quoting a saying she had heard, “When one door closes and rips off a toenail, another door opens and gives you a pedicure... I believe that. I’m spiritual and I go to yoga and I pray.” So does Reinhardt have any irons in the fire? “I have a lot of options where I want to take my writing,” she replied. “One of my main goals is to finish another novel, which is halfway done. I’d like to take the columns” in the direction of more creative freedom. “People say start a blog, start a blog. But I don’t think I’m ready for that. Hopefully, I’ll get a job to supplement my writing dreams.” However, she admitted that she still has to get over the sting of the unexpected layoff. “At first, I was angry for a couple of days. Then that feeling of being used for 26-1/2 years turned into something very positive. Had I not had that platform at the AC-T, I wouldn’t have been a successful author, or have been able to help so many people in various causes. “It was kind of like I was my own little preacher... I’m really looking forward to doing much more creative things, including videos and books, where I can let my imagination and language be creative. “If it’s part of God’s plan for me, then I’ll find a position that will allow me to help people again.” What’s more, Reinhardt said she would like to do more public speaking and standup comedy, but “I’m still, like, in a certain state of shock — like is this really happening to me? “Little blessings have happened in the last few days … I was able to get a basic health-care package... Most of my days are spent doing research, as far as navigating the system” for those who are suddenly among the unemployed. “The first two days (after the layoff), I didn’t eat at all. I slept just a couple of hours each night. Then, a sense of peace and relief came over me ... with the help of my friends and my family. “Had I not been practicing yoga for a couple of years prior to this happening, I wouldn’t have handled this as well. I think it’s prepared me for a nondevastating path. I (also) like Zumba …. because the (male) instructor has a cute butt.” “Momma didn’t raise me to just lay in bed,” she noted. She also praised her husband for his support of her. “I had worked — in my first real job out of college — for the Myrtle Beach SunNews for two years. Then I came back to my partents house in Spartanburg (S.C.) and began managing a fitness center. One day I took a trip to Asheville ... It was the The (Asheville) Times — in 1987 — that hired me. When I applied, I had to wait three months to get the job. I was persistent in calling them for interviews.”
Asheville Daily Planet — September 2013— A17
“I did every crappy job you can imagine for years. I covered barbecue suppers, malformed pumpkins.... “Larry Pope was the managing editor. He was the most special person in my life. One day he called me into his office and said, ‘We like your humor — you’re not very good at covering town meetings... In 1995, he gave me the column. That first year, I won first place in column writing out of all 100 papers” in the Gannett chain. “Now I’m around 50 years old. In a way, it’s a relief that I don’t have to grow old and stagnate... Somebody will replace me very quickly, because we’re all replaceable. “I tell you one thing... Gannett is not gonna kill me. All they did was set me free. But I’m grateful for the years I had there. It gave me a platform. It gave me the ability to help” other people. After a pause, she said, “I’m not bitter, I’m better.” After being informed of her layoff at the AC-T office, “When I drove home, my Facebook blew up, as did my email. I tried to answer all of the Facebook posts and emails. Thousands... Calls... I had so much community support.”
In contrast, Reinhardt said that “I got nothing” in any kind of severance package. “I get a little supplemental pay for six months — whatever unemployment doesn’t pay.” While she realized that, “more and more, it’s going to go to online and digital, I really thought the paper was making money. It (the round of layoffs) happened at all of the Gannett papers across the Eastern Seaboard the last few months. “In a way, I feel bad for Randy Hammer because he didn’t like to be put in the position of layoffs. In his parting speech to the AC-T staff, she said that he admitted that “these haven’t been six years of my life,” referring to round after round of layoffs. “Do I wish I hadn’t been on the list?,” she asked, rheotircally. At first, yes, but now,” she is not so sure. For instance, Reinhardt noted, “I’m doing some writing for some national magazines....” As for the future, “I would want to do something to help others, of course. But I wouldn’t mind spending a month at St. John, my favorite island in the Caribbean. I just want to be a good person and a good Mom — and have a movie deal,” she said.
A18 — September 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
Daily Planet’s Opinion
Fryar sets good example by rejecting his pay raise While corporate profits are soaring for the “big guys,” the small-business sector and other “little guys” continue to suffer through hard times that began about five years ago with the so-called Great Recession. In the meantime, some in positions of leadership — both in private enterprise and in government — have continued to feather their nests with huge pay increases, often on the backs of those lacking clout. Therefore, we are heartened by the recent decision by Mike Fryar, a member of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, to reject — on an individual basis — a 1.7 percent pay increase approved in July for all board members. Fryar was the only commissioner to
cast a “no” vote on the county budget that included the pay raises, saying he was opposed to a property tax increase. The raise comes to about $450 a year per commissioner. Prior to running for the seat he eventually won, Fryar had contended that the commissioners were overpaid in comparison to those of other counties of its size in the state. While County Manager Wanda Greene said recently that the increase for the commissioners, which she said always is the same as that for county employees in the budget, is “minusculem,” Buncombe commissioners’ pay ranked second among county commissioners in North Carolina last year. We only hope Fryar has started a trend of leading by — of all things — example.
Egypt, Nazi Germany and N.C.
CHAPEL HILL — Does the following description of a political situation at the beginning of July apply to Egypt or North Carolina? “Just a year after winning a decisive election victory and taking power from an entrenched regime that had been in charge for many years, the victors alienated a substantial part of their population. Their undemocratic efforts to deny participation by those people and groups who oppose them were patently undemocratic and unfair.” It applies to Egypt before the recent ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood-led government. But, arguably, it could apply just as well to North Carolina’s political transformation. Our state’s political turnaround recently got the attention of another national columnist. “There was a time,” wrote Neal Peirce of The Washington Post, “when North Carolina was a symbol of Southern enlightenment. Compared to the policies of the old ‘Solid South’--Democratic, conservative, fervidly anti-civil rights--the state embraced relatively progressive policies in such areas as education and race relations. “No longer… the Tar Heel state is racing to lead the pack in conservative anti-city and implicitly anti-black politics.” Peirce partially summarized the record, noting a bill that reduces revenue by a half-billion dollars, lowering taxes on high income individuals “while increasing taxes for small business owners and lower-andmiddle-class taxpayers,” cutting unemployment insurance coverage, cutting support of elementary education, and repealing the Racial Justice Act. In Egypt, the actions of the government led to popular uprisings followed by the government’s ouster led by the military. In North Carolina, the actions of the government led to the protests on Moral Mondays. “What are the odds that Moral Monday protests or the like will deter North Carolina’s new right-wing politics?” asks Peirce. “Realistically, very low.” he answers. Noting the legislature’s efforts to “seize city assets” like the Charlotte airport and Asheville water system, Peirce says, “It’s clear that an ugly ‘reward-friends, punishadversaries’ politics is in full flower.”
D.G. Martin Is there any prospect for change in direction? Not much, according to Peirce. “Growing Hispanic and other more moderate political voices could offset the trend. But with North Carolina’s legislative districts carefully drawn to entrench the ascendant Republicans, a return to moderation may be years — if not decades — away.” Somebody might ask, “Where is the Egyptian Army when we need them?” On the other hand, some political observers point out that, after being out of power for so long, the newly empowered can be forgiven for a few excesses and that, once they are accustomed to the responsibilities of governing, their policies will become more moderate and practical. The apologists for the ousted Egyptian government made the same argument. Similar explanations were made to explain away Nazi excesses when they took power in Germany in 1933 according to Erik Larson’s recent best seller, “In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin,” based on the experience of North Carolina native William E. Dodd, who was U.S. Ambassador to Germany during this period. According to Larson, when the new Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels faced questions about abuse against Jews, he told reporters, “Let me explain how such a thing might occasionally happen,” Goebbels said. “All during the twelve years of the Weimar Republic our people were virtually in jail. Now our party is in charge and they are free again. When a man has been in jail for twelve years and he is suddenly freed, in his joy he may do something irrational, perhaps even brutal. Is that not a possibility in your country also?” In our state, too? • D.G. Martin hosts “North Carolina Bookwatch,” which airs Fridays at 9:30 p.m. and Sundays at 5 p.m. on UNC-TV.
Letters to the Editor
Mumpower, Wilke touted for city mayor, police chief I was reading your paper about Mr. (Carl) Mumpower. I think that we need more people like him. He has done more than anyone in office about drugs. I sure would like to meet him and shake his hand. He should run for office for (Asheville) mayor. I know a lot of people that would vote for him. Maybe the Lt. Bill Wilke should run for the (Asheville) police chief. But please let me say “thanks” Mr. Mumpower and Lt. Bill Wilke. Regarding the (Asheville) police chief trying to get the other police to lie for his son — I think that is a darn shame. His son is no better than anyone else that
does something wrong. So he should be treated like everyone else. And I think that the chief should go to jail and be fired — maybe go to jail with his son. You know that makes people think what else had he done! Tell the officers “thank you” — all — for standing up. Need more officers like them. CHARLOTTE ROBERTS Swannanoa EDITOR’S NOTE: For the record, the Daily Planet reported in its August edition that Wilke had said Police Chief William Anderson and others tried to coerce him to change the facts of the chief’s son’s accident — and that a city probe later found no evidence to support Wilke’s accusation. See LETTERS, Page A21
The Candid Conservative
Insidious ‘stupidity taxes’
On top of the fees and taxes we pay to local, state and federal governments, there is an every-growing burden of hidden tolls that evade meaningful scrutiny. With the power of governmental sanction, these levees stroll through the backdoor and nibble away at our resources. Some are so insidious as to fall into a category called “stupidity taxes.” At the top of the list stand state sponsored lotteries. Though armored with deceptive names like “The Education Lottery,” these revenue bonanzas are ripe for manipulation. In that lotteries are funded predominantly by those who cannot afford the gamble, these programs are a means for robbing Peter to pay a Paul of government’s choosing – minus the skim taken by lottery bureaucrats and power brokers who use proceeds as a political slush fund. Most stupidity taxes arise out of stupidity spending. Earmarks, pork, and graft consume significant revenue in wasteful support of special interests and nice-over-necessary activities. The lack of quality control, transparency, and productive return illuminate our stupidity for tolerating the nonsense. The built-in inefficiencies and self-justifying policies of bureaucracies represent a hidden cost in most everything we do. Anything that is expensive, concealed and self-serving merits review as a possible stupidity tax. America’s growing, redundant, inconsistently enforced, and excessive regulatory umbrella meets this criteria. A kissing cousin to the expense and burden of bureaucracy society would be the cost of protecting ourselves from a predatory legal system. Much akin to the protection rackets found in organized crime, almost every productive activity in America pays a stupidity tax to the law profession. Defensive medicine, as an example, serves no other meaningful function than to help physicians stay out of a lawyer’s gun sight. People are social beings with instinctive desires. As a result, cronyism arises as another stupidity tax. The tendency to place friendship and herd instincts ahead of principles, responsibilities, and the law is a persisting problem. “You scratch my back and I will scratch yours” thinking prevails at all levels of our culture. Though we understand the itch, we should not tolerate the scratch. It is just another stupidity tax on top of all the others. Conservatives resist stupidity and taxes – especially when they come as a package….
Healthy societies count on nature’s self-corrections
We are blessed to live in a self-corrective
Carl Mumpower
world. Whether on a global or cellular level, when things get out of balance, our natural order fixes itself. A belief in a world that is constantly seeking balance is a very important separation between the right and the left. It is hard to determine whether man has a good or evil nature. In truth we can go either way and thus goodness is not a dependable feature of the human condition. If we are not able to reliably count on man, what do we believe in? For the left, government represents the answer and the most attractive resource for solving problems, supporting people, maintaining sanity and safety, and keeping the world turning. That government is comprised of people seems to escape the liberal mind. If we tend toward corruption as individuals, what makes anyone think we can do better as a herd? We don’t – governments, like mobs, liberate versus restrain man’s baser instincts. If government is bound to corruption because of its human nature then where do we go? Conservatives recognize God’s natural law as a more reliable path to normalcy. Evidence of the self-corrective hand of nature is everywhere. Overuse soil and it grows increasingly sparse crops so that you will have to find new soil until the old plot rebuilds. Eat more than your share of food and you decrease your longevity so that the rest of the world gets to eat too. Spend beyond your means and debt and other impacts eventually force you to live within your means. Self-correction is a force of governance that helps keep us in line naturally, efficiently, and fairly. Government, on the other hand, demonstrates none of those traits. When government fixes something, it usually breaks something else. That cycle accounts for the ballooning number of laws we have as government chases its tail in the futile mission of control. Conservatives are fans of nature. We appreciate living in a world that is always adjusting toward balance and forcing us to do the same. The self-corrective quality of our world is not something to fear. It’s just a back-up system for when we, as individuals, cultures, or countries, fail to stay on top of our very human frailties. See CANDID CONSERVATIVE, Page A21
Asheville Daily Planet — September 2013— A19
On the left
Asheville: The Green Leader
Asheville is rapidly gaining recognition as a national leader in energy and resource conservation, and it has everything to do with the attitudes and beliefs of our citizens. Signs of that personal dedication are everywhere. We have led the state in water conservation for many years, despite the fact that we have never faced the severity of drought conditions seen in the eastern part of the state. Our water customers simply choose to use water more wisely. We have the highest per-capita ownership of hybrid electric vehicles in the entire region. That means people here are willing to pay a little (sometimes a lot) more in order to cut back on fossil fuel consumption. (Though there are significant savings in fuel costs, the payback period will remain quite long—at least until our federal government stops subsidizing oil and keeping prices artificially low.) We have long enjoyed the highest participation rate in curbside recycling in the state, and that already strong showing has multiplied since introduction of our Big Blue, single-stream recycling program. As a recent press release from the City noted: “The big goal of Big Blue is to divert materials from the landfill, and over its first year, Zero Waste Asheville reduced the amount of material sent there by 1,526 tons, a decrease of 6.5 percent compared to the previous year.” Viewed another way, that amounted to a 25 percent increase (by weight) in the quantity of material recycled. And in coming years we expect to implement a curbside composting system. Food waste is the largest component of our waste stream by weight, and diverting it will not only save taxpayer money on landfill tipping fees, but will feed into a local source of fertilizer for our gardens and farms. Other changes I’ve mentioned in past columns include the switch to LED street lights that will save taxpayers $365,000 per year in electric costs, even including amortization of the cost of the new fixtures. We’ve tightened up City buildings, added hybrid electric buses that double the mpg of our transit vehicles, and added natural gas vehicles to the City fleet. We even have the first plug-in electric squad car in the state (and the second in the U.S.) But we’ve only begun, and programs already in the works are going to ratchet our claim to green leadership. I mentioned Solarize Asheville (a project of the Blue Ridge Sustainability Institute) in my June column. The effort is well underway, recruiting clusters of homeowners in various neighborhoods, who all sign up to install photovoltaic panels on their roofs. Contractors are able to offer steep discounts when they can work multiple jobs in the same few blocks. As the program expands we will see rapid deployment of
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Cecil Bothwell sustainable energy generation in our city. Meanwhile, Asheville Green Opportunities has begun to teach peer-to-peer energy efficiency classes in the East of the Riverway neighborhood, starting with 150 homes. Homeowners and renters will learn simple, low-cost steps they can take to reduce their energy costs. At the same time, they’ll learn how best to share their new knowledge with neighbors. My piece of the community effort dubbed AMAZED (Asheille Metro Area Zero Energy District), is compiling a catalogue of best-practices for commercial users. Relying on research conducted by the Rocky Mountain Institute and the Research Triangle Regional Partnership, I’ll soon start contacting local businesses with cost effective ideas for cutting their energy bills, ideas tailored to fit specific types of users: retail, medical, manufacturing, offices and so forth. All of these energy-saving plans (and more) are aimed at gradually reducing Asheville’s (and WNC’s) dependence on imported coal and oil. As we become more self-reliant, there is a good prospect of shutting down Duke Energy’s Lake Julian
coal-fired power plant — the single biggest source of air pollution in our region. When that day comes, we will all breathe easier, both figuratively and practically. Our children will be healthier, our mountain views will be longer, and we’ll know we are buying local in the very best sense of those words. • Cecil Bothwell, author of nine books, including “She Walks On Water: A novel” (Brave Ulysses Books, 2013), is a member of Asheville City Council.
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A20 - September 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
Commentary
Modern U.S.? Look to GOP revolution in Raleigh A new friend asked me what I think of modern America. Top of my mind went to the obvious – that I don’t like the “immediate gratification” that permeates our society today. Then the other day I found myself using the same phrase to describe what Republicans in Raleigh have been doing. The two aren’t the same of course – but then again, they are. My generation understood that we couldn’t have everything we wanted because the family couldn’t’ afford it. Men were bread-winners. People saved to get things. Then in the 1970s, things changed. People began to ride the debt highway to stuff. Expectations went higher: It was, “I want what I want, and I want it now!” New technologies ramped up the immediacy of gratification. Cameras let us see the image immediately. We can post something on Facebook (“we” doesn’t include me), and everybody we know is informed immediately. And when they click “Like,”
Lee Ballard we feel the instant gratification of approval. Feel – yes. Emotions are big here. We’re wired in our brain somewhere to want more of pleasant feelings. We want more gratification, and we want it faster. It’s human nature today’s human nature anyway. And the Republican Revolution in Raleigh is like that? Oh, yes. And it’s as ugly as credit card debt. A key feature of immediate gratification is excess. We want and get more than we need, things and experiences that AREN’T NECESSARY. Bingo. That’s what’s happened in Raleigh. Everybody knew that change would come when Republicans took the General
Assembly in 2010. But NOBODY was ready for the earthquake-tsunami-tornadohurricane-volcano that happened. Republicans didn’t have to wait and be properly diligent before doing what they wanted to do. They had the necessary majorities in both houses of the General Assembly, and they had the boilerplate legislation written by right-wing bill mills, especially the American Legislative Exchange Council. And they had an astounding confidence– or arrogance – that their ideological creed is right and proper, no matter the place and time. Maybe I’m a man of my generation, or maybe I think too much, but I could never support ANYTHING until I’d studied all the implications of my action. Republicans passed legislation that impacts everybody in North Carolina, and rarely was there debate. And remember: doing the unnecessary is a feature of immediate gratification. Was it necessary for Republicans to smack down
cities and towns like they did, snatching airports, water systems, annexation rights, even alcohol sales? Was it necessary to smack down Medicaid recipients, the unemployed, public school teachers? No, and worse, a lot of it has the nasty look of spite, even revenge. As for the emotion of instant gratification, North Carolina Republicans are getting “Likes,” too. National conservatives are gushing. And “Thankful Tuesday” was a small but enthusiastic thank-you to the GOP. (Will somebody please tell these people that while “Moral Monday” is a nice alliteration, “Thankful Tuesday” isn’t. “Thankful Thursday” would work, like “Thirsty Thursday” at the ballpark.) And you know what they say about immediate gratification: the brain wants more of what it enjoys. So look for more gratification in the next legislative session. Then comes the 2014 election…. • Lee Ballard lives in Mars Hill.
elsewhere: first as a trickle, then as a wave. This is the popping of the dollar bubble and will include a stock market decline, real estate havoc, and a credit crunch. (Sounds to me like a repeat of 2008.) The Fed will step in with massive liquidity. This may contain the damage for a little while, but high inflation, higher interest rates, and high perceived risk will then dry up the Treasury market so that the Fed will have to start printing money to buy bonds at such a high rate that it will push inflation to the “multi-hundred percent range.” This is the popping of the government debt bubble and with it you’ll get massive inflation, skyrocketing interest rates, and soaring unemployment. The stock and real estate markets will crash and banks will fail. Gold will be a “stellar investment.” We will sink into a “mega-depression” lasting 20 years with asset values down 90% and with 40-60 percent unemployment. Yikes! The authors see no way to avoid this “hard landing” but they seem oddly optimistic and nonchalant about this doom-and -gloom scenario. They say that the U.S. will suffer the least and although the fall in our standard of living will be greater than that during the Great Depression, the bot-
tom won’t be as low. In other words, with “adequate government welfare,” people won’t starve in the streets. Their advice on how to best weather this storm? Buy gold. Keep cash. Stay away from stocks, bonds, commodities and real estate. Mortgages are OK as long as they are fixed rate. Pay off variable debt such as credit cards. Keep your job, especially if it’s in the necessities sector (food, utilities, shelter, cheap clothing, energy and health care). They say that gold is the next huge bubble. The world will inevitably turn to a single international currency in order to regain stability. I certainly hope that this scenario does not come true and frankly, I don’t believe that events will play out this way exactly or be quite so dire. (Not all Americans will lie down and stop producing or innovating.) Although I already own some gold and I have plans to grow food, it was comforting to read a scenario that explained exactly WHY I will need these things as well as the warning signs that I should be looking for. • Robin Shoemaker lives in Asheville and holds a bachelor’s of science degree in accounting from Clemson University.
Why Glenn Beck ranks as ‘real deal’ and hero Glenn Beck is my hero. I know, I know. He sounds a little crazy. He’s a little hyperactive. And he cries a lot. But over a period of several years, this man has earned my respect. The source of my admiration isn’t from his criticisms of politicians or from his doomsday warnings, but from who he is. The guy is humble. You can’t listen to him for more than 10 minutes without picking up on his humility. He talks openly about his struggles in life. His radio cohorts, Pat and Stu, tease him mercilessly about his weight, his propensity to buy silly things (such as a stuffed polar bear) and his tendency to apply the time frame “six-eight months” to every recollection. As a reply to this ribbing, he laughs and admits that yes, he does have a tendency to overeat, overspend, and weep. I identify with Beck’s turning point (13 years ago). He describes the beginning of his turning point as lying on his apartment floor weeping (of course), with no family, no respect and no money. I had my own turning point in 2010. I didn’t have the same problems, but I was definitely at a bottom and I felt helpless and terrified. I had nowhere to go but up or out. I chose God and I chose up. Like Beck, this decision changed my life completely around. It was a slow process; one could even say that it’s still ongoing. I know what a turning point feels like. I know how much effect it can have on a person and how permanent that effect is. I like Glenn Beck’s beliefs. He’s consistent and passionate about them. At his core, he believes in freedom for individuals. Who can argue with that? And that whole Christian thing: he gets it. I mean, he really gets it. He doesn’t spout Bible verses or speak religious platitudes. Christianity has many denominations, but the meat of it is the same and the meat is what Glenn talks about: Christ died for us because he loves us, faith in God means trusting that He will take care of you, tithing is a sign of that trust. He knows what it takes to maintain a relationship with Christ. I receive great strength for my own faith when listening to his words that feel
Robin Shoemaker encouraging but not judging. When I first began watching Beck on Fox News, I thought, “This guy is nuts. There’s no way the world will get as bad as he says.” Yet I’ve seen prediction after prediction become reality. After four years of listening to him and watching him, I have never once heard Glenn Beck be disrespectful of others, I have never once caught him in a lie, I have never once seen him get defensive or bluster. I cannot detect an ounce of ego in him. Whether you agree with him or not, this guy is the real deal and he is my hero.
‘Aftershock’ proves provocative
I picked up “Aftershock” because I know that the Federal Reserve’s printing of money can’t last forever. Many economists and talking heads are predicting a precipitous decline in the economy and I want to be prepared. How do I hang onto what little money that I have? In answering this question, the book did a competent job. The authors assert that we are no longer experiencing normal economic cycles but a series of bubbles. These bubbles will culminate in one final, devastating pop, after which the world’s financial system will evolve into a global currency. The first few chapters describe the mechanics and reasons for the 2008 financial meltdown. We’ve gone through the first four of six bubbles. The two yet to come are: the dollar bubble and the government debt bubble. “Aftershock” is the first book that I’ve read that describes the coming doom in specific and sequenced terms. This is the nitty gritty that I was looking for. The entire world right now has a stake in eeping the dollar valuable and stable. But eventually, poor investment performance in this country will drive foreign investors
Asheville Daily Planet — September 2013 — A21
Candid Conservative Continued from Page A18
Cultural longevity requires we give more than we take
A common tendency among all addicts is the postponement of responsibility for the pleasure of the moment. All over America, that equation is being played out in crack houses, political offices, board rooms, and living rooms. This self-destructive course finds a comfortable home in a misguided dedication to consumption over production. Everything in nature tells us that mankind functions better when creating, building, fixing, loving, and being useful. An overemphasis on consumption creates a vicious cycle addicting us to whatever it is we are consuming while pulling us from productive activities. In today’s America we have priority addictions to eating, spending, complaining, and living off of other people’s labors – just to name a few. For years America’s political leaders, with our sanction, have relied on shortsighted policies to prop up a system allowing most of us to live beyond our means. Even a termite infested house can look nice with a regular coat of fresh paint. In several short decades we have gone from supplying credit to the world to being in debt to the world. We have sold out our dominant position as the world’s greatest manufacturer one union, regulation, tax, and greedy decision at a time. In that transition we have shifted from a production to a consumption economy. Ayn Rand would suggest our culture’s parasites have incrementally and successfully overtaken our culture’s producers. In a competing global reality, any country emphasizing consumption over production is mortgaging its future. A return to a national conscience that reaches for the dependable outcomes of working over the temporary satisfactions of taking is necessary. Policies, tax codes, regulatory practices, and attitudes must be redirected if we are to remain competitive. Just as chemotherapy for cancer is difficult, a return to a production economy will not be without discomfort. Right now we are taking pain killers and pretending we have been cured. Our nation’s greatest export has long been the beacon of light found in the American success equation. It is in this formula of liberty, opportunity, and responsibility that we find our true mission of contribution. We are here not to consume the world, but to uplift it…
Reservations? They’re bad social policy
Though settlers in the new world abused their Indian hosts from day one, the creation and preservation of the reservation system adds great insult to those original injuries. It’s no small irony that we live in a society that rejects segregation for blacks, forces integration upon whites, and yet validates segregation for tribal Indians. We like to pretend their story and needs are unique, but cultures have been gobbling up one another since time began. The strongest footprints in history’s ebb and flow have been left by those who’ve adapted and strived through adversity. One key to success was a willingness to assimilate. With no kinship to surrender, assimilation involves blending the good of the old with the best of the new and moving on. Certainly things are lost in this equation, but that’s nature’s way of forcing growth and new possibilities. As measured by health, economic, and other social statistics, reservations are an abysmal failure – and in fact are one of the worst examples of institutional racism in today’s America. We should not be confusing habit with cultural sensitivity…
To manage wisely....
The dictionary defines a conservative as
someone favoring traditional views and values. There’s wisdom in drawing from hard won experiences of the past. Unfortunately, that narrow take overlooks conservatism’s broader dedication to reality, reason, responsibility, and right. These tenets are as firmly grounded in a creative approach to the present and future as the foundation lessons of the past. The root of conservatism is found most surely in the word “conserve”, which is “to use or manage wisely.” Conservative social, religious, and moral values are different than conservative political values. Political conservatives are not interested in controlling the universe or imposing arbitrary values on others. That’s the left’s way. True conservatism is first and foremost a prescription for governance. The one true bond between all conservatives centers on how best to run America – that prescription is filled through the U.S. Constitution…
Elitism? More common than racism
The left loves to vilify the Tea Party and other conservative thinkers with the accusation of “racism.” These self-deceiving critics are actually modeling another version of social corruption called “elitism.” The effort to uplift one’s self-image by putting others down has always been part of the human experience. There are very few people who do not judge their fellow man on the basis of gender, age, appearance, finances, or some other silly something. We live in a town where dreadlocks and tattoos are more common than ties, and it’s fascinating to watch this new age version of jockeying for social superiority. Man’s vanities and insecurities guarantee we’ll always have social friction. A dead giveaway of elitism is a dedication to personal insults. As measured by their habitual propensity for accusing conservatives
of racism and stupidity, the left seems to thrive on this skill set. As always, the antidote to all of mankind’s goofy “isms” is found in living by example and embracing the power of love over insult…
• Carl Mumpower, a former member of Asheville City Council, may be contacted at drmumpower@thecandidconservative.com
Letters to the Editor Continued from Page A18
Let’s take it slowly with the ta-tas, people
Quite a spectacle on Sunday (Aug. 25) afternoon (so I hear) in downtown, Pack Square, Asheville. An annual topless rally for the third year attracted a crowd of a few hundred. Gawkers mostly were men. Surprise surprise. I was astounded that it was even in broad daylight and on a Sunday no less. No place to accidentally walk through on a sunny afternoon with grandma. Breasts. Women need em’ babies have to have them and men are fascinated. Encouraging the fascination is Mr. Jeff Johnson, an Alabama resident. He organizes the rally annually. His group GoTopless.org is pushing that topless women are okay and there’s nothing wrong with it. There are other assembly/demonstrations in other states also. He fights for equal rights for women and says bare breasts are nothing indecent. He contends that overseas they have no qualms about half undressed women and neither should we. A man promoting breast revealing? He doesn’t even have any but apparently likes to ogle! Cool your jets, Jeff, because I have seen the look on people’s faces when a woman is breastfeeding in public. The majority of people don’t like it. There are designated feeding areas for moms. I heard of a woman who was told to leave a store because of it.
Those babies need the rights. As far as I’ve heard there weren’t any nursers there Sunday. My problem: thirteen year old girls in school and on the bus with young males that haven’t grown up around breasts in the open. Equivocation: more teen pregnancy and sex crimes. Presently there aren’t enough women wanting a change so these ladies are outnumbered. Most Mothers and even Dads agree. Though only about a dozen women bared their chest. Two oppositional women held signs with scripture and said the event that the topless women were wrong. “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”Yes women can show their bosom if they want. Joe Shmoe can moon all of Asheville if he fancies. I have a right too and I desire to walk in public and not see ta-tas everywhere. It just sounds unhygenienc. City Council members tried to find a legal loophole to shut down the topless party. However, state law allows toplessness according to Vice Mayor Esther Manheimer. (Not sure when we last took a vote on that). Legally women’s breast are not considered indecent. I just want to know what they are then. Accessories? I’m pretty sure though that if a man exposes his man part he may go to jail. Definitely fined. We are talking about changing laws and ordinances. Rights need to be acquired in time. A general movement slowly over years could lead us that way. For now, one ta-ta at a time. Stacy Figueiredo Arden
Asheville’s been destroyed! “I’m alive and I’m glad I shopped at the Combat Zone”
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A22 — September 2013 — Asheville Daily Planet
Advice Goddess
Continued from Page A1 A: Random urine tests can say a lot about a person, like that she either got the dog to pee into a cup or could one day give birth to a fine litter of Labradoodles. Drug addicts lie. Yours has been lying to you from day one, and not about inconsequential stuff. (Don’t run to get an HIV test; grow wings and fly there.) Your girlfriend’s motto appears to be “Just say ‘Don’t mind if I do!’ to drugs.” You could say she’s been cheating on you with drugs. Actually, she’s been cheating on drugs with you. Make no mistake about what comes first and who comes second. That’s not going to change overnight -- and maybe not ever. You can someday have a loving, mutual relationship -- once you find a partner whose moments of painful honesty involve admitting to stuff like scraping your new car getting into the garage, not “Oh, I had sex with a crackhead I met in rehab. And how was your day?”
When hurry met Sally
I planned a cross-country trip to introduce my girlfriend of five months to my family. She just sprang on me that she wants my family to meet “all of” her, which includes her 9-year-old daughter. My family knows she has a child, and I really enjoy her daughter, but I’m really not ready to introduce both of them. It would suggest that I’m taking on the role of a father, that she’s important to me, that I’m ready to care for her, and that they should accept her as part of my life. I’m okay with their meeting the daughter later if our relationship progresses, but it’s still so new that we haven’t even had our first big argument yet. Is it okay for me to first want to love the woman and decide whether she’s the one? Is it a warning sign that there are already issues regarding her child? — Dating A Package
get-to-know-you stroll than a get-to-know-you freeway chase). If that timetable doesn’t work for her, well, there’s got to be a door there somewhere. But the fact that you have selfknowledge and the integrity to be unwilling to rush things suggests that she’d be prudent to see whether there’s something between you -- that is, besides an anonymous call to Child Services by someone making serious accusations: adults around her wearing Crocs with socks and not letting her wear makeup like all the other fourth-grade girls.
The Advice Goddess
Amy Alkon
It would be clear you were in the wrong place if you’d spent the first date brimming with child-loathing: “Kids require a total commitment for 18 years -- or maybe 13, if you can get them to run away as teenagers.” But it’s perfectly reasonable to want to be called baby for a while before you commit to having one, and especially one at the soonto-be-sullen age of 9 who already calls some other guy daddy. Ironically, it’s you, the single, childless guy who’s taking the more responsible, parental approach: waiting to see whether the relationship has legs before you start acting like you’re all a family, which could end badly. Kids need stability. Ideally, “Who’s your stepdaddy?” isn’t a question a little girl should have to answer while standing by the revolving door outside the men’s department. Your girlfriend’s apparent attempt to leverage your affection for her into a Very Brady Vacation could be a straight-out power play or a fear-driven test to see whether you’re up to quasi-daddyhood. Think hard about the day-today details of being with a woman with a kid, like how her daughter will ultimately come first and how her presence will change the relationship dynamics. (You can’t just tie a kid to a parking meter and make it up to her by taking her to pee in somebody’s bushes after lunch.) If, for the right woman, the tradeoffs wouldn’t be too much for you, reassure your girlfriend of that, and then lay out the path to a relationship that works for you (more of a
Susan Reinhardt also is the author of the hilarious and quirky novel “Chimes from a Cracked Southern Belle,” along with “Not Tonight Honey, Wait ‘Til I’m a Size 6,” “Don’t Sleep with a Bubba.” and “Dishing with the Kitchen Virgin.”
Wail watching
My girlfriend cries quite easily — over being sick, work getting frustrating, or even our evening plans going awry. I feel the crying makes a small problem bigger, as everything becomes all about her emotions and not the problem. I try to comfort her, but when she starts crying, it’s very hard to talk or reach her at all. — Daunted If you can’t stop the rain, you might just make the best of a bad situation and position your girlfriend over your Slip’N Slide. As for why she’s so often inconsolable, it may be because her tears are, in part, a cry for more attention from you. Holding back on giving it, like those parents who let their babies scream their little lungs out all night long, is exactly what you shouldn’t do, according to “the dependency paradox.” Social psychologist Brooke C. Feeney, who coined the term, found that in a committed relationship, the more a person feels they can count on their partner to be responsive to their calls for comforting and support the more independent that person can be. So, for three weeks, try being much more affectionate and caring -- and not just when she’s crying. Maybe even give yourself a quota of three out-of-the-blue shows of affection per day. When she does cry, don’t try to “reach” her, except to hold her in your arms and let her sob into your shirt. Postpone any discussion till
the storm subsides, tempting as it is to get right in there all guy-like and solve things -- taking her, weeping, to Home Depot and calling over a salesperson: “‘Scuse me, sir…got anything to fix this leak?”
Worm feelings
My girlfriend and I broke up, and I want to move on, but she keeps trying to talk to me. I finally told her that we cannot talk anymore. She said that if I’m unwilling to talk to her, it means that we never had a relationship at all. I feel bad that she’s hurting, so I pick up the phone sometimes, but I have nothing to say, and I’m weary of the drama. — Finished There comes a time in a man’s life when he’s so desperate to be abducted by aliens that he goes to Roswell and tries hitchhiking: “Yer galaxy or bust!” But don’t stick your ex with all the blame. After all, nothing says “I never want to speak to you again” like picking up the phone to have yet another conversation about it. Talking probably seems kind, but giving her what she wants in the short term is cruel in the long term because it gives her hope -- and reason to call back. Answer one last call. Tell her only that you will no longer be answering her calls and that “you” need to move on. If, somehow, she sneakily gets through, gently reiterate that message and immediately hang up. Sure, it’s a stock plot of chick flicks, a girl annoying a guy into loving her. Unfortunately, if this were a movie, it would be the sort shot by your doctor using a tiny snaking camera, with your girlfriend typecast as the polyp. • (c.) 2013, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405, or e-mail AdviceAmy@aol.com (advicegoddess.com). Weekly radio show: blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon
To order your copy or copies of “Chimes from a Cracked Southern Belle,” visit www.susanreinhardt.com. Email for readers is reinhardtnc@yahoo.com
The novel also is available on Amazon, and independent bookstores should be able to order copies.
Monthly Horoscope By MARYANNE MORRIS Special to the Daily Planet
Aries (march 21-April 19) Your life is going to get better. Just go with the flow and live with it. Taurus (April 20- May 20) Wear blue this month. It looks good on you. Gemini (May 21-June 20) You talk to much, but you know this. Keep it short this month, OK? Cancer (June 21-July 22) Bah bah! Everyone is tired of hearing about your problems. Change what you don’t like about your life and please stop talking about it. Leo (July 23-August 22) If you are traveling and you happen to see a Sky mall magazine, check out the R2-D2 on Page 26. This would be a excellent addition to anyone’s home. The stars say it’s totally worth the $199.95.
Virgo (August 23-September 22) Don’t use your roommate’s body wash, please.
Libra ( September 23-October 22) Adventure is on its way. Just know everything isn’t always perfect. Scorpio (October 23- November 21) Tone it down when you get stressed. Sagittarius (November 22- December 21) Buy new shoes this month. You will be walking a long distance and get a cat. Capricorn (December 22- January 19) “Hey jerk”...You will hear this phrase a lot this month. Aquarius ( January 20- February 18) Go to a water park before summer is over. Pisces (February 19- March 10) Yeah, you did it. You are going to have a great month!
Asheville Daily Planet — September 2013 — A23
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A24 — September 2013 — Asheville Daily Planet
Concert Reviews and Calendar of Events
Special Section PULLOUT
B1
Asheville Daily Planet — September 2013
REVIEW
Sinatra tribute? It was swingin’, baby!
By JOHN NORTH
john@ashevilledailyplanet.com
Daily Planet Staff Photo
Rick Michel (foreground) performs in a “Sinatra Forever” Aug. 31 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts.
CONCERTS FEATURING A WIDE RANGE OF MUSICAL GENRES — JAZZ, BLUEGRASS, FOLK, ROCK, INDIE-POP —
FRANKLIN — Rick Michel seemed to channel the late, great Frank Sinatra with a ring-a-ding ding performance of the fastliving, fist-fighting, skirt-chasing crooner’s unique vocals and swaggering playboy stage-style Aug. 31 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts. The 90-minute show, “Sinatra Forever: A Tribute to Frank Sinatra Starring Rick Michel,” paid homage to the man who is — arguably — the greatest-ever singer of popular music in the world. From the beginning, Michel emphasized that his show was not an impersonation, but Frank Sinatra an interpretation. The show business “bible” Variety magazine wrote that “Rick Michel is the closest thing to Frank Sinatra we have ever heard.” Michel is billed as one of Las Vegas’ premier singers and impersonators. While Michel’s face more closely resembles that of Sinatra’s close friend and fellow “Rat Pack” singer, the late Dean Martin, if one shuts his eyes and listens, Michel’s voice remarkably approximates that of “Hoboken’s Gift to the World.” Just like Sinatra, Michel sported the iconic perfect-fitting tuxedo with the requisite red handkerchief in the breast pocket and the pinkie ring on his right hand. He was backed by a stellar seven-piece orchestra, wailing away in “Ol’ Blue Eyes’” quintessential big-band swing-jazz style. The band sounded sharp and tight, if just a little on the “thin” side, with just a pianist, bassist, drummer and four horn players. Michel also did some comedy impersonations — and sang several songs by Dean Martin, who Playboy magazine once called, “The coolest man who ever lived.” The audience exceeding 500 persons applauded — and some women even occasionally shouted their adoration — including one who yelled “Tell ‘em, Frankie!” — of Sinatra, who earned nicknames that also included “The Voice,” “Swoonatra,” “Chairman of the Board” and the “Sultan of Swoon.” See SINATRA, Page B7
B2 - September 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
Calendar
of
Send us your calendar items
Events
Please submit items to the Calendar of Events by noon on the third Wednesday of each month, via e-mail, at calendar@ashevilledailyplanet. com, or fax to 252-6567, or mail c/o The Daily Planet, P.O. Box 8490, Asheville, N.C. 28814-8490. Submissions will be accepted and printed at the discretion of the editor, space permitting. To place an ad for an event, call 252-6565.
Tuesday, Sept. 3
SHOW, 2 p.m., Flat Rock Playhouse, Flat Rock. The FRP Jimmy Vaughan and the Tilt-a-Whirl Band will perwill present the comedy thriller form at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 6 at the Foundation Per“Deathtrap” through Sept. 15. forming Arts Center in Spindale. The show will be presented at 8 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays, and at 2 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. For tickets, which are $35 for the public, $33 for seniors, Mountain State Fair, 9 a.m., WNC AgriculAAA, and military and $25 for students, call 693tural Center, Fletcher. The North Carolina Moun0731 or toll-free at (866) 732-8008. tain State Fair, the third largest fair in the state, VENEZUELA LECTURE, 7 p.m., Reuter Center, will be held through Sept. 15. The fair celebrates UNC Asheville. The future of Venezuela in the the heritage of the Blue Ridge Mountains, includwake of Hugo Chavez’s death will be the topic of the first fall 2013 World Affairs Council series presentation. Maria Moreno and Greg Clemons, both member of the foreign languages faculty at Mars Hill University, will present their insights into Venezuela. Moreno recently returned from a summer trip to her hometown of Merida, Venezuela, where she received her undergraduate education at Universidad de Los Andes. At MCU, she is assistant professor of foreign languages. Clemons is a chair and professor of the Department of Modern Foreign Languages. Admission is $10 for the public, free for WAC members and UNCA students.
Wednesday, Sept. 4
BOOK DISCUSSION, 3 p.m., Weaverville Library, 41 N. Main St., Weaverville. “A Visit From the Goon Squad” by Jennifer Egan will be the subject of a book discussion. SIERRA CLUB MEETING, 7:15 p.m., Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, Edwin Place and Charlotte Street, Asheville. A presentation on “Stop GE Trees” and “Our Forests Aren’t Fuel” will be given. “CATS” MUSICAL, 8 p.m., Flat Rock Playhouse Downtown, Hendersonville. The FRP will present the acclaimed musical “Cats” through Oct. 6. Shows will be performed at 8 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays and at 2 p.m. Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. For tickets, which are $35 for the public, $33 for seniors, AAA and the military and $25 for students, call 693-0731 or toll-free (866) 732-8008. POETRY READINGS, 9 p.m., Vanuatu Kava Bar, 15 Eagle St., downtown Asheville. Asheville City Poets, with Caleb Beissert, will present readings. Admission is free.
Thursday, Sept. 5
ACOUSTIC CONCERT, 5 p.m.-midnight, Isis Restaurant & Music Hall, 743 Haywood Rd., Asheville. Kelly McFarling and the Home Team with Tonight’s Noise will perform. For tickets, which are $8 in advance and $10 at the door, call 575-2737. BOOK DISCUSSION, 6:30 p.m., East Asheville Library, 902 Tunnel Rd., Asheville. “The Casual Vacancy” by J.K. Rowling will be the subject of a book discussion. LECTURE, 7 p.m., Broyhill Chapel, Mars Hill University, Mars Hill. MHU will host a lecture by the Rev. Dirk Ficca, past president of the World’s Religions. The presentation is titled “Many Voices, One God: Unity or Harmony?” The public is welcome to attend and admission is free. AUTHOR’S PRESENTATION, 7 p.m., Malaprop’s Bookstore/Café, 55 Haywood St., downtown Ashville. T. DeLene Beeland will present her book, “The Secret World of Red Wolves,” alongside an animal caretaker from the WNC Nature Center.
Friday, Sept. 6
ing agriculture, music, crafts, art, food, entertainment, display of livestock, competitions. A GIRL AND A GUN LAUNCH, 5:30-7 p.m., Bear Arms Indoor Shooting Range, Brevard. The official launch of the first North Carolina chapter of A Girl and a Gun Women’s Shooting League will be held. AUTHOR’S PRESENTATION, 7 p.m., Malaprop’s Bookstore/Café, 55 Haywood St., downtown Ashville. North Carolina author Nancy Peacock will present her novel, “The Life and Times of Persimmon Wilson.” MERLE HAGGARD CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts, Franklin. Merle Haggard will perform in concert. Haggard went from an inmate to a a country and Western song writer, singer, guitarist, fiddler, and instrumentalist. For tickets, which are $39, $47 and $55, call 524-1598 or visit greatmountainmusic.com. JIMMY VAUGHAN CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., Foundation Performing Arts Center, Isothermal Community College, 286 ICC Loop Rd., Spindale. Jimmie Vaughan and the Tilt-a-Whirl Band will perform. Vaughan, co-founder of The Fabulous Thunderbirds, will bring in his horn-rich blues band for a night of Texas rockin’ blues. For tickets, which are $19 and $24 for adults and $8 for youths, call 286-9990. CONCERT, 8 p.m.Tryon Fine Arts Center, 34 Melrose Ave., Tryon. Geoff Achison and Randall Bramblett will perform. For tickets, which are $15, call 859-8322 or visit www.app.etapestry.com.
Saturday, Sept. 7
CONCERT, 6-8 p.m., Little Rainbow Row’s back deck, corner of Greenville Highway and West Blue Ridge Road, Flat Rock. A free concert featuring Letters to Abigail will be offered. At-
tendees are urged to bring their own lawnchairs. CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., Conference Hall, Blue Ridge Community College, East Flat Rock. The Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra will present “Celtic Celebration.” CONCERT IN THE PARK, 7-9 p.m., plaza in front of Hickory Tavern and Brixx Pizza, Biltmore Park Town Square, Asheville. The Cheeksters will perform in a free outdoor show. RICKY SKAGGS CONCERT, 8 p.m., Ronald and Lynda Nutt Theatre, Clayton Center for the Arts, Maryville College campus, Maryville, Tenn. Country and bluegrass singer and songwriter Ricky Skaggs will perform in concert. For tickets, which range from $20 to $45, call the box office at (865) 981-8590 or visit www.claytonartscenter.com. ACOUSTIC CONCERT, 8 p.m., Dobra Tea, 78 N. Lexington Ave., downtown Asheville. Tina & Her Pony will perform.
Sunday, Sept. 8
LECTURE, 6-8 p.m., First Baptist Church of Asheville, 5 Oak St., downtown Asheville. A lecture on “Caring for Creation and Your Soul” will be given by Dr. Matthew Sleeth, following by a “conversation” with three religious leaders. The event is free and open to the public. COFFEEHOUSE CONCERT, 7 p.m., Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, 1 Edwin Place, Asheville. Ben Bedford will perform in the Mountain Spirit Coffee House monthly concert series. Suggested donations are $15 for the public, $10 for students and free for children ages 14 and younger.
See CALENDAR, Page B3
Asheville Daily Planet — September 2013 — B3
The Asheville-area gypsy punk band Sirius.B will perform at 8 p.m. Sept. 12 in Highsmith Unviersity Union’s Grotto at UNC Asheville in a free concert .
Calendar of Events
Continued from Page B2
Sunday, Sept. 8
MOVE TO AMEND MEETING, 7 p.m., conference room, North Asheville Library, 1030 Merrimon Ave., Asheville. The Move to Amend Buncombe County meeting will be held. “All persons interested in a democratic government accountable to the people are invited to attend,” the organizers noted. Members will set goals and select tactics to create public demands for passage of a constitutional amendment to overturn “Citizens United.”
Tuesday, Sept. 10
Ruthie Foster will perform at 8 p.m. Sept. 20 at the Diana Wortham Theatre at Pack Place in downtown Asheville.
Way beyond hip and trendy Asheville Daily Planet
LIBERTARIAN MEETING, 7 p.m., Oakleaf Furniture, 130 Miller St., Waynesville. The Haywood County Libertarian Party, which meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays, meets for open discussion, with debate encouraged. All perspectives and persuasions are welcome, regardless of political or religious affiliation. For more information, call Windy McKinney at windymckinney@yahoo.com.
Now
Thursday, Sept. 12
Sirius.B Concert, 8 p.m., Grotto, Highsmith University Union, UNC Asheville. The Asheville-area gypsy punk band Sirius.B will perform in a free concert that is open to the public. Sirius.B, which was voted Best Rock Band, Best Acoustic/Folk Band and Best All-Around Band in the 2013 Mountain Xpress readers’ poll, is a self-described “absurdist gypsy folk funk punk” band. Its high-energy style is created with an eclectic mix of multi-lingual vocals and instruments, including the accordion, violin, cello, acoustic guitar, flamenco guitar, charango (an Andean stringed instrument), banjo, African drums, marching band percussion, snare drum, fretless bass, melodica and clarinet.
Friday, Sept. 13
RESILIENCY CELEBRATION, 4:-7:30 p.m., West Asheville Park, Asheville. An Asheville Reliency Celebration will include a gala and potluck to share stories about resilience and efforts to move the area past dependency on fossil fuels during the past year. Attendees are asked to bring a dish and utensils — and to RSVP to transitionasheville.org. RIVERMUSIC CONCERT, 5 p.m., RiverLink Sculpture and Performance Plaza, River Arts District, Asheville. Several bands will perform in the free, rain-or-shine concert. The bands include The Alan Evans Trio, Bubonik Funk and more. Dogs and outside food and drink will not be allowed. The Gray Line Trolley will transport attendees from Aloft Hotel downtown to the concert site. The last trolley will leave the concert site at 10 p.m. TOP OF THE GRADE CONCERT, 6:30-8:30 p.m., McCreery Park, Main Street, Saluda. A Top of the Grade concert will be held. Admission is free. PRIMITIVE QUARTET CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts, Franklin. The Primitive Quartet will perform in concert, preceded by special guest Mountain Faith. For tickets, which are $15, call 524-1598 or visit greatmountainmusic.com. CONCERT, 9 p.m., White Horse nightclub, 105-C Montreat Rd., Black Mountain. The Song O’ Sky Chorus will perform song favorites old and new in barbershop-style harmony. For tickets, which are $12 in advance and $15 at the door, call 669-0816.
Saturday, Sept. 14
Concert in the Park, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Fletcher Community Park, Fletcher. A free concert will be offered. Attendees are urged to bring lawnchairs.
See CALENDAR, Page B6
$2 Tuesdays
$2 domestic draft Wednesdays Breakfast Club-Brunch menu served until noon on Sundays before shows.
brunch d n e k e we serving
B4 - September 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
Asheville Daily Planet — September 2013 — B5
Proud Supporter of Asheville and MantraFest on Tour Thomas Wolfe Auditorium U.S. Cellular Center October 31, 2013
Harmony Motors 621 Brevard Road Asheville, NC 28806 828-232-4000
Located between I-26 and I-40 near the WNC Farmers’ Market
B6 - September 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
Calendar
special event.
Thursday, Sept. 18
Continued from Page B3
Saturday, Sept. 14
BEACH MUSIC BLAST, 6-10 p.m., Blue Ridge Mountain Club, Blowing Rock. The second annual Blowing Rock Beach Blast on the Blue Ridge will feature The Embers, performing at 6 p.m., and The Tams, at 8 p.m. Gates open at 4 p.m. Food and beverages will be available and guests also are allowed to bring in outside food and drink, with brown-bagging permitted as well. For tickets, which are $28 for adults and $10 for children under 12, call the Blowing Rock Chamber of Commerce at (828) 295-7851. CONCERT, 8 p.m., White Horse Black Mountain nightclub, 105-C Montreat Rd., Black Mountain. Song O’ Sky Chorus (Sweet Adelines International) will perform old and new favorites, sung barbershop-style.
Sunday, Sept. 15
ETHICAL PROGRAM, 3:30 p.m., Friends Meeting House, 227 Edgewood Rd., Asheville. A program titled “Hand, Heart, Head — Why I Am an Ethical Humanist” will be presented by Ethical Society members Tom Heffner, Barbara Wallk and Jim Tobin. A discussion period will follow their presentations. After the meeting, time will be provided for informal conversation and light refreshments. The public is welcome to the monthly meeting of the Ethical Society of Asheville.
Tuesday, Sept. 17
Citizenship Day Naturalization Ceremony, 11 a.m., Carl Sandburg Home, Flat Rock. New American citizens from Western North Carolina will participate in a naturalization ceremony at the park. The public is welcome to attend this
CRITICAL ISSUES LUNCHEON, 11:45 a.m., Country Club of Asheville, 170 Windsor Rd., Asheville. Leadership Asheville Forum will feature a presentation on “Coal Ash Ponds” by Julie Mayfield of the WNC Alliance. For more information, visit www.leadershipashevilleforum.com. CHILDHOOD OBESITY PROGRAM, 6:30 p.m., 2nd-floor boardroom, Lenoir-Rhyne University Asheville, 36 Montford Avenue, Asheville. The L-RU Living Room Series will present “Getting Fat in the Desert: Childhood Obesity in WNC.” Five discussion leaders will be featured.
Friday, Sept. 20
Home Showcase, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., WNC Agricultural Center Event Center, Fletcher. The Carolina Mountain Home Showcase will be held through Sept. 22. DOWNTOWN AFTER 5, 5:15 p.m., North Lexington Avenue near the I-240 overpass, downtown Asheville. Truth & Salvage Co. will headline downtown’s monthly summer street party.Truth & Salvage Co. includes former members of the Asheville 1990s band, Scrappy Hamilton, and will close out the 2013 series with songs fitting between the genres of country and rock music, in a show stacked with four-part harmonies. The opener will be The Blue Rags, which features a volatile blend of ragtime, rockabilly, blues, jazz, bluegrass, honky tonk, and rock, Admission is free.
Friday, Sept. 20
EDGAR ALLAN POE THEATER, 7:30 p.m., Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts, Franklin. A one-act production, about an hour in length, will take a look at where writer and poet Edgar Allen Poe might have been during the 14 days he was missing — for about two weeks — 150
Fri., Sept. 6th 8:00 PM Robin Bullock
(Acoustic Guitar Master)
Sat., Sept. 7th 7:30 PM Classical Piano and Cello
(AmiciMusic: featuring Dan Weiser and Franklin Keel)
Sun., Sept. 8th 8:00 PM Ashevile Jazz Orchestra
(Big Band/Swing Era Music)
Fri., Sept. 13th 8:00 PM Song of the Sky Voices
(Pleasing Barbershop Harmonies from this female group)
Sat., Sept. 14th 8:00 PM Pura Fe and Dark Water Rising
(Great Vocalists with Native American Roots)
Sun., Sept. 15th 7:30 PM Rafael Brunn
(Flamenco Guitar)
Sat., Sept. 21st 8:00 PM Charles Unger Jazz Experience
(San Francisco-based jazz saxophonist)
Sun., Sept. 22nd 7:30 PM Jesse Donavan
(Flamenco Guitar)
Thurs., Sept. 26th 7:30 PM Jane Kramer CD Release
(Great Original Songwriter)
Fri., Sept. 27th 8:00 PM One Leg Up with Peggy Ratusz
(Great Cabaret Jazz with an optional pre-show dinner)
Sat., Sept. 28th 8:00 PM Roy Book Binder
(One of America’s Great Acoustic Blues Troubadors)
years ago. For tickets, which are $10, call 5241598 or visit greatmountainmusic.com. RUTHIE FOSTER CONCERT, 8 p.m., Diana Wortham Theatre, Pack Square, downtown Asheville. Ruthie Foster and her blues band will perform. For tickets, which are $30 for adults, $25 for students and $15 for children, visit www. ruthiefoster.com or call 257-4530.
Saturday, Sept. 21
Farm LIFE FESTIVAL, 10 a.m,- 3 p.m., Carl Sandburg Home, Flat Rock. A family-friendly festival highlighting the Sandburg family’s farm life will feature a professional storyteller, square dancing, garden tours, cheese-making demonstrations, goat-judging and children’s crafts; all activities including house tours for this festival day are free. CONCERT, 8:45 p.m., Isis Music Hall, 743 Haywood Rd., Asheville. Nora Jane Struthers and The Party Line will perform. For tickets, which are $12 in advance and $15 at the door, call 575-2737.
Sunday, Sept. 22
PIANO FORUM, 3 p.m., Diana Wortham Theatre, 2 S. Pack Sq., downtown Asheville. Eleven of the area’s leading pianists will perform in the Asheville Area Piano Forum annual fall benefit concert. BREVARD PHILHARMONIC CONCERT, 3 p.m., Porter Center for the Performing Arts, Brevard College, Brevard. Pianist Misha Dichter will perform. For tickets, which are $30 and $35, visit www.brevardphilharmonic.org, or call 884-4221.
Thursday, Sept. 26
CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., Porter Center for the Performing Arts, Brevard College, Brevard. The Brevard College Symphonic Winds will perform. Admission is free. CONCERT, 8:30 p.m., Isis Restaurant & Music Hall, 743 Haywood Rd., Asheville. Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band will perform. For tickets, which are $10 in advance and $12 at the door, call 575-2737.
Friday, Sept. 27
Asheville Quilt Show, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., WNC Agricultural Center Expo Bldg, Fletcher. The three-day Asheville Quilt Show will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4:30 Sunday. More than 250 quilts, vendors, gift shop, silent auction and quilts will be offered for sale. Free parking will be available and the event is handicap accessible.Admission is $6. UNCA BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING, 8 a.m., Mountain View Room, Sherrill Center, UNC Asheville. UNCA’s Board of Trustees will hold its next meeting, which is open to the public. Portions of the meeting may be closed to the public under provisions of the North Carolina Open Meetings Act. CONCERT, 8 p.m., Isis Music Hall, 743 Haywood Rd., Asheville. Ten Cent Orchestra and the Alex Krug Combo will perform.
See CALENDAR, PAGE B7
Sinatra
Continued from Page B1 Highlight song performances of the night included moving renditions of “That’s Life,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “Summer Wind” and “Fly Me to the Moon.” A glaring omission from the song list was Sinatra’s hauntingly romantic and popular “Witchcraft.” The Franklin show, however, featured many of Sinatra’s greatest hits, including “The Best Is Yet to Come,” “The Way You Look Tonight” and “The Lady Is a Tramp.” After praising what he termed Franklin’s “magnificent theater,” Michel veered into a Dean Martin routine, including several jokes. In one, he said studies have shown that “one out of three people attending Frank’s shows are ugly.” He then asked the audience members to look at the person to their right Rick Mitchell also plays and then to the one to their Dean Martin (right) in a show, left and, if they both look “Drinkin’-Singin’-Swingin’,’ alright, you know you’ve saluting the “Rat Pack.” got a problem.” While in the comedy mode, Michel did a spot-on impression of the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield, and joked that “my wife’s so ugly she needs two tickets to enter a zoo — one to get in and one to get out.” Michel then got enthusiastic applause as he sang Dino’s “Everybody Loves Somebody” and “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head?” and then, as he put it, went “Back to Frank” songs, including “One For My Baby.” Frequently during the show, Michel praised the arrangements of Sinatra songs by Nelson Riddle. Also, he said Cole Porter was Sinatra’s favorite songwriter. Michel noted that he met Sinatra a couple of times and, during a golf tournament in 1995, spent some time with him. Among the many Cole Porter standout songs written for Sinatra that Michel performed were “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” and “I Love Paris.” He also sang the boozy-bluesy “A Quarter to Three,” as well as more up-tempo “You Make Me Feel So Young,” “Strangers in the Night,” and “Luck Be a Lady.” Michel wrapped up the show with crowd-pleasers “My Way” and, for the encore, “New York, New York.” Regarding “My Way,” he said it is “Mr. Sinatra’s anthem, but you need not rise.”
Calendar Continued from Page B6
Friday, Sept. 27
JAZZ CABARET DINNER CONCERT, 8 p.m., White Horse nightclub, Black Mountain. A jazz cabaret dinner will be featured. An optional dinner served by Black Mountain Bistro will begin at 6:30, followed by the show at 8. For reservations, which are required, call 669-0816 or visit www. whitehorseblackmountain.com.
Saturday, Sept. 28
Land of Sky Doll Show, 9:30 a.m.4 p.m., Boone Building, WNC Agricultural Center, Fletcher. Dance Theatre , 7:30 p.m., Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts,
Asheville Daily Planet — September 2013 — B7
Franklin. The Diavolo Dance Theatre will perform. For tickets, which are $21, $25 and $29, call 524-1598 or visit greatmountainmusic.com.
Monday, Sept. 30
BENEFIT CONCERT, 7 p.m., The Expo Center, Crowne Plaza Resort, Asheville. Justin Hines will perform in a concert to benefit MHO and WNC Group Homes. For tickets, which are $20 for adults and $10 for children, clal 254-4030, ext. 116.
Friday, Oct. 11
CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., Jubilee Community Church, 46 Wall St., downtown Asheville. A concert will feature the group Free Planet Radio, with special guests violinist Farzad Farhangi from TURKU and “Mandalas in Motion” on accompaniment by photographer Taylor “Taz” Johnson. For tickets, which are $15 at the door (or
available at Malaprop’s), call 225-3232.
Saturday, Oct. 12
The Hit Men CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., Foundation Performing Arts Center, Isothermal Community College, 286 ICC Loop Rd., Spindale. The Hit Men, featuring Former Stars of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, will perform in concert. October 12, 7:30 p.m. For tickets, call 286-9990.
Wednesday, Oct. 16
CORNEL WEST SPEECH, 7:30 p.m., Sherrill Center, UNC Asheville. Cornel West, author of “Race Matters” and “Democracy Matters,” will discuss the role of race, gender and class in American society in a public lecture. A leading political commentator, proressive activist and public intellectual, West is professor of philosophy and Christian practice at Union Theological Seminary. The event is free and open to the public.
B8 - September 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
REVIEW
Clint Black captures hearts with his music
his band then launched into “One More Payment,” which includes the lyrics: “I’ve been footin’ the bill for some time Step by step and line by dotted line Well I haven’t bought the farm yet But I’m not that far behind I’ve got one more payment and it’s mine...”
By JOHN NORTH
john@ashevilledailyplanet.com
FRANKLIN — Clad in all-black attire and crowned with a black cowboy hat, country music singer-songwriter Clint Black sat down and sang and played the guitar with his tight three-man band Aug. 9 — and wowed the audience at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts. Besides his music, Black, who also is a record-producer, multi-instrumentalist and occasional actor, mixed in stories and jokes that added spice to an excellent musical performance. At one point in the show, Black noted he has been married to singer Lisa Hartman since 1991 — and expressed pride in the longevity of their union. He expressed regret that she could not attend the Franklin show and pleasure that they soon will be celebrating their 22nd wedding anniversary. Throughout the show, Black was handed a different guitar for each song by an attentive stage-hand. He opened the Franklin show with the introspective “You Live and Learn.” Afterward he prompted laughter from the crowd when he deadpanned, “Here’s another song I can cheer you down with,” as he and the band launched into “Where Your Love Won’t Go.” At that point, he said, “Well, I’ve been working on a new album ... for about 16 years... Anyway, there’s a new CD out there with three new songs on it,” along with old hits. (The new Black album is titled “When I Said I Do” and is available exclusively at
Daily Planet Staff Photo
Clint Black (right foreground in black hat) performs with his three-man band on Aug. 9 at Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Also in the foreground (on the left) is Hayden Nicholas, a county guitarist, songwriter and author. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store locations, he said with a grin. He has an album with all-new songs coming out next year, Black added. Later, Black played Willie Nelson’s “I Couldn’t Believe It Was True,” noting he has been a fan of Nelson’s since he was a child. He also is a lifelong fan of Chet Atkins, and he and his band played a delightful song — “Ode to Chet” — that Black and guitarist-songwriter Hayen Nicholas wrote as a salute to Atkins. With a note of pride, Black said he continues performing with “the three musicians I’ve been playing with over 35 years.” He added that “Straight From the Factory”
was “the first song Hayden and I ever wrote in the spring of 1987” — and it became a hit and was included on his first album. Among other memorable songs Black performed were “When My Ship Comes In” and “Like the Rain.” When a fan yelled a request for a song, Black, looking a bit like Roy Rogers, responded, “I don’t do a lot of dedications, so don’t ask.” After a pause, he prompted much laughter when he quipped, “You have to learn the difference between a suggestion and a request — it’s about 50 bucks.” Continuing on a financial theme, Black and
Waxing philosophical, Black noted that “our relationships would be way better off if we treated love as a verb rather than as a noun.” He and his group then received some of its most enthusiastic applause of the night after playing “Love Is Something We Do.” Black told of 1987-88, when he and his group were working on his first album, “Killin’ Time.” The group played the title song and the crowd sang along with Black, seeming to know every word. “Let me hear you, Franklin!” Black called out, to the delight of the audience. The applause afterward was — to that point — the loudest of the night. Interestingly, Black next performed “No Time to Kill,” providing a bookend effect and receiving almost as much applause as “Killin’ Time.” He noted that country singer Tanya Tucker once asked Nicholas, his guitarist, “Why don’t y’all write a song about me?” With a grin, he said, “We can’t play that” bawdy song for you, but “we reworked it with 38 country singers’ names (including Tucker’s) and they launched into the rollicking “Tuckered Out.” Black and his band just about brought the house down with a riveting performance of two songs in their return to the stage for an encore — “Put Yourself in My Shoes” and “I’m Leaving Here a Better Man.”