December 2014 Rapid River Magazine by Rapid River Magazine

Holiday Gift Guide PGS 37-39 Asheville Symphony Orchestra PG 6 Jacob Marleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Christmas Carol PG 7 Susan Marie Designs PG 21

Ariel Gallery PG

Movie Reviews

PGS

25-28

Local Dining Guide

PGS

22-24

2012-2014

Enjoy and Give the Best™

Elizabeth, Sue and Bill, owners of The Chocolate Fetish

Visit our European style shop where you’ll find handmade artisan chocolates and the perfect gifts for everyone on your list. Discriminating chocolate lovers have been enjoying awardwinning, handcrafted chocolates from The Chocolate Fetish since 1986. This holiday season place your order online for speedy in-store pick-up or nationwide shipping. www.chocolatefetish.com

36 Haywood Street, Downtown Asheville • (828) 258-2353 Monday-Thursday 11-7 p.m. • Friday and Saturday 11-9 p.m. • Sunday 12-6 p.m. Extended holiday hours Christmas week! Check our Facebook page or call our shop for details. 2 December 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 18, No. 4

C O T T O N M I L L S T U D I O S F E AT U R E D A RT I S T

pg. 32

Cynthia Pierce

Owner/Baker at Yuzu Patisserie

Yuzu Patisserie is a cozy bakeshop and cafe located within Gallery Mugen at the Cotton Mill Studios in Asheville’s River Arts District.

Here you will find artful pastries created by Cynthia which are often enhanced by unexpected ingredients such as yuzu, the aromatic Japanese citrus fruit for which the shop is named. The patisserie also serves coffee brewed to order and a variety of loose leaf teas, including a number of Japanese green teas as well as herbal and black teas. Bistro tables and chairs within the gallery and outside on the deck offer guests a chance to snack and relax during a day spent exploring all that the RAD has to offer.

www.yuzubycynthia.com

Cotton Mill Studios

122 Riverside Drive

www.cottonmillstudiosnc.com

pg. 36

Vol. 18, No. 4 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — December 2014 3

Dec. 4–6, 11–13, 18–20

The BeBe Theater

20 commerce St. Downtown asheville

Seating is limited, advance purchase highly recommended!!! pg. 30

“Hilarious...crass...side-splitt ing.” -- Mountain Xpress “The Christmas show to see in Asheville.” -- Asheville Scene

For tickets and info visit

www.ThemagneTicTheaTre.org

pg. 18

4 December 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 18, No. 4

web exclusives RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE Established in 1997 • Volume Eighteen, Number Four

DECEMBER 2014 www.rapidrivermagazine.com

6 Performance 8 Noteworthy

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

11 Fine Art

Sandi Anton, Carol Pearce Bjorlie, Rosalind Buda, James Cassara, Kathleen Colburn, Michael Cole, KaChina Davine, Amy Downs, Connie Engle, Max Hammonds, MD, Phil Hawkins, Phil Juliano, Sam Katz, Chip Kaufmann, Michelle Keenan, Kimberlina Marie, Susan Marie, Jennifer Mayer, Caitlin Morehouse, Michael J. Morel, Lindsey Mudge, April Nance, Dennis Ray, Erin Scholze, Jeannie Shuckstes, Ashley Van Matre, Greg Vineyard, Kelly Walker, Bill Walz, J. & R. Woods.

CONTACT US Rapid River Arts & Culture Magazine is a monthly publication. Send all mail to: Rapid River Arts & Culture Magazine 85 N. Main St., Canton, NC 28716 Phone: (828) 646-0071 info@rapidrivermagazine.com

ADVERTISING SALES Downtown Asheville and other areas Dennis Ray (828) 646-0071 dennis@rapidrivermagazine.com Hendersonville, Waynesville, Dining Guide Rick Hills (828) 452-0228 rick@rapidrivermagazine.com All materials contained herein are owned and copyrighted by Rapid River Arts & Culture Magazine and the individual contributors unless otherwise stated. Opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Rapid River Arts & Culture Magazine or the advertisers found herein. © Rapid River Arts & Culture Magazine, December 2014, Vol. 18 No. 4 ON THE COVER Clockwise from top left:

Pottery by Jim and Shirl Parmentier; Ariel Gallery display; blue and purple vessel made of wood by Joel Hunnicutt; jewelry by David Vrooman; Scarves by Janet Taylor; black and white vessel by Becky Lloyd; wood bench by David Scott. PAGE 11

SHORT STORIES

Asheville Symphony Orchestra . . . . 6 NC Stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Magnetic Theatre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Asheville Contemporary Dance . . 16

Publisher/Editor: Dennis Ray Marketing: Dennis Ray, Rick Hills Copyeditor: Kathleen Colburn Proofreader: Diane S. Levy Poetry Editor: Carol Pearce Bjorlie Layout & Design: Simone Bouyer Accounting: Sharon Cole Distribution: Dennis Ray

Discover More Exciting Articles, Short Stories & Blogs at www.rapidrivermagazine.com

New stories are added each month! written by Maryann Zeliznak

Horse Creek Water Trail,

What is the meaning of war? Anthony Guidone searches for answers in “The

Route of All Evil,

Reviewed by Patrice Tappe.

written by Nevada McPherson

Blue Ridge Ringers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 LaZoom’s Special Holiday Tour . . 37

ONLY ONLINE Face of War, A Soldier’s Lament.” Asheville storyteller,

You’ve Got My Attention,

David Novak joins Good

written by Phil Okrend

Creative Works,

Ariel Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Blackbird Frame & Art . . . . . . . . . . 11 Red House Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Asheville Gallery of Art . . . . . . . . . 19 Susan Marie Designs . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Art After Dark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Teresa Pennington . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Riverview Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Toe River Studio Tour. . . . . . . . . . 37 Southern Highland Craft Guild. . . 38 Grovewood Gallery. . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Ten Thousand Villages. . . . . . . . . . 38

12 Columns James Cassara – Spinning Discs . . 12 Carol Pearce Bjorlie – Poetry. . . . . 14 Book Previews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Greg Vineyard – Fine Art . . . . . . . . 29 Bill Walz – Artful Living . . . . . . . . 33 Max Hammonds, MD – Health . . 33

13 Music The Fritz & Zansa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Town Mtn. & Mandolin Orange. . 24

22 Dining Guide

by George & Elizabeth Ellison

Dumbfounded,

written by RF Wilson

WE’RE A LOCAL & RESPONSIBLE PUBLISHER Rapid River Magazine is an eco-friendly newsprint publication dedicated to helping the area grow responsibly through our use of soy based ink, purchasing only recycled post and pre-consumer paper, and donating thousands of advertising dollars to local environmental and non-profit organizations. We are local people working to support local businesses. Keep your advertising dollars here in WNC, call (828) 646-0071 today.

SPECIAL SECTIONS Hendersonville . . . . . . . . . . . . . pgS 8-9 Black Mountain . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg 17 Downtown Asheville . . . . . . pgS 18-19 Waynesville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pgS 30-31 River Arts District. . . . . . . . . . . . pg 32

David Novak

Morning America’s David Hartman, Balsam Range, and others, January 9-11, 2015 for The Best of Our State at the Grove Park Inn.

Poems to Connect With the Universe, written by Nicholas Andrea. A More Beautiful World – The Art

& Inspiration of Greg Vineyard,

written by Kathleen Colburn.

The Curmudgeon, by Peter Loewer.

Artists & Writers, Promote Yourself on www.RapidRiverMagazine.com Artists and writers are invited to contribute to our new web exclusive section – “Creatives Sketched.” With a rapidly growing readership, the Rapid River Magazine website is a great way to promote yourself and a great way for potential buyers and readers to learn about you. Rapid River Magazine’s copyeditor, Kathleen Colburn, is editor and curator of the section. Please contact her with questions and submissions by email to rrshortstories@gmail.com.

The Green Room Café . . . . . . . . . 22 Amaretti Cake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 The Chocolate Fetish . . . . . . . . . . . 39

25 Movie Reviews Chip Kaufmann, Michelle Keenan .25

34 What to Do Guide

™

Best in Show by Phil Juliano . . . . 35 Callie & Cats by Amy Downs . . . . 35 Corgi Tales by Phil Hawkins . . . . 35 Dragin by Michael Cole . . . . . . . . 35 Ratchet & Spin by J. & R. Woods . . 35

IF YOU GO: Tell them you saw it in Rapid River Magazine! Distributed at more than 390 locations throughout eight counties in WNC and South Carolina. First copy is free – each additional copy $1.50

Vol. 18, No. 4 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — December 2014 5

captivating performances Asheville Symphony Celebrates Christmas with Bach and More

Pan Harmonia Benefit Concert for Homeward Bound By

The Asheville Symphony Orchestra celebrates the holiday season on Sunday, December 14, with its traditional Classical Christmas concert at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium. ASO Music Director Daniel Meyer will conduct the orchestra, the 120-member Asheville Symphony Chorus, and soprano and bass-baritone soloists in portions of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio as well as other holiday favorites. The first half of the concert will be comprised of selections from the Christmas Oratorio, which was written to be performed on the six feast days surrounding the celebration of Christmas. The second half of the concert will feature Christmas favorites such as “O Holy Night,” “Silent Night,” and “We Wish You A Merry Christmas.” The audience will be encouraged to sing along with the Asheville Symphony Chorus. For more details call (828) 254-7046 or go to www.ashevillesymphony.org.

MiChaeL J. MoReL

ASO Music Director Daniel Meyer. IF YOU Asheville Symphony Orchestra GO presents A Classical Christmas, Sunday,

December 14 at 3 p.m., Thomas Wolfe Auditorium. Tickets start at $22 for adults and $11 for youth, and are available through the ASO office or the U.S. Cellular Center ticket office.

AmiciMusic Celebrates the American Frontier

AmiciMusic will close out 2014 with a series of concerts celebrating the spirit of American adventure, the innocence of childhood, and some jazzy holiday standards.

Hansel and Gretel, Le nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte, Die Fledermaus, and The Sound of Music. She often appears as soprano soloist for Handel’s Messiah and Vivaldi’s Gloria with various groups in North Carolina, including the AsheSoprano Amanda Horton and ville Symphony Chorus and baritone Jonathan Ross, both longthe Carolina Concert Choir. time Asheville favorites, will team up Amanda performed as a Amanda Horton, with pianist Daniel Weiser, artistic Young Artist with Opera Santa Soprano director of AmiciMusic, in this fun Barbara, and holds opera pershow featuring arias, duets, and some formance degrees from Furman beautiful arrangements of American University and Shenandoah folk songs. Conservatory. Each program will include scenes Jonathan Ross, baritone, from Douglas Moore’s beautiful Ballad received a BM in Music from of Baby Doe, a love story set in ColoJames Madison University, rado during the Silver Boom of the late and a MM in Music from 1800’s, as well as Andre Previn’s Billy Binghamton University. While the Kid. In addition, several of Aaron in Binghamton, Jonathan was Copland’s American song settings a member of the Tri-Cities will be included, along with Irving Jonathan Ross, Opera Company for which Fine’s humorous Childhood Fables for baritone he performed leading roles Grown-ups. in many operas including Le Amanda Horton, soprano, has sung Nozze di Figaro, Cosi Fan Tutte, and The leading roles with Asheville Lyric Opera in Magic Flute.

6 December 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 18, No. 4

RoSaLinD BuDa

A Joyous Holiday Event! Organist Eric Wall leads a merry band of musicians in a rousing instrumental version of Georg Alicia Chapman, oboe, F. Handel’s and Eric Wall on organ. favorite Christmas tradition. All proceeds will benefit Homeward Bound, which ends homelessness in Western North Carolina. A Chamber Music Messiah features Kate Steinbeck, flute, Alicia Chapman, oboe and English horn, Rosalind Buda, bassoon, David Ginn, trumpet, and Eric Wall on organ.

IF YOU GO: Concert takes place on

Sunday, December 7 at 3 p.m., at First Presbyterian Church, 40 Church Street, downtown Asheville. Suggested donation of $25/person, $30/family appreciated, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. To learn more, visit www.pan-harmonia.org or www. homewardboundwnc.org.

In Asheville, Jonathan has performed with the Asheville Symphony & Symphony Chorus, Opera Creations and Asheville Lyric Opera. Most recently, he performed the role of Leporello with ALO in their production of Don Giovanni. There will be three venues: Friday, December 12 at 7:30 p.m. at the White Horse Black Mountain, 105 Montreat Rd. in Black Mountain; Classical Brunch on Saturday, December 13 at 11 a.m. at Isis Restaurant and Music Hall, 743 Haywood Rd. in West Asheville; and Saturday, December 13 at 8 p.m. at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church, 789 Merrimon Avenue in North Asheville. Seats for the shows are $15-20. For more details, visit www.amicimusic.org.

Daniel Weiser, AmiciMusic founder and Artistic Director

AmiciMusic is a professional chamber music organization dedicated to performing the highest quality music in intimate venues and nontraditional spaces. For more information please visit www.amicimusic.org

holiday performances

CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAYS AT NC STAGE

Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol

Help us give stories to children in WNC with Bedtime in a Bag, a partnership with Children First. Ensemble Theatre Company, in conjunction with North Carolina Stage Company, is proud to present Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol! The show is playing exclusively at NC Stage in downtown Asheville, from December 17 through December 28th. Under the direction of Andrew Hampton Livingston and starring Michael MacCauley, this one man, tour-de-force performance is not to be missed. “Scrooge? I have to redeem old Scrooge? The one man I knew who was worse than I was? Impossible!” So begins the journey of Jacob Marley’s heroic behind-the-scenes efforts to save old Scrooge’s soul – and in the process, save his own. Aided by Bogle, a mischievous little sprite with an agenda of his own, their hilarious journey takes them from the depths of the underworld to the stars above! This irreverent, funny, and ultimately, deeply moving story retells Dickens’ classic with warmth and infectious zest. This thrilling performance is sure to become a holiday classic for generations to come, and has been per-

December Events at Asheville Community Theater A Charlie Brown Christmas Includes the classic songs Christmas Time is Here, Skating, Linus and Lucy, and Hark the Herald Angels Sing – with arrangements by Vince Guaraldi. A perfect treat for the entire family! A Charlie Brown Christmas, December 5-21 with performances Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday afternoons at 2:30 p.m. Tickets range from $12-$22.

The Santaland Diaries Bradshaw Call is back to star in this one-man-one-act that can only be described one way: crazy funny. When an out of work slacker takes a job as an elf in Macy’s Santaland, his hilarious observations of the shoppers and employees are much more naughty than nice. The Santaland Diaries, December 1120 with performances Thursday nights at 7:30 p.m. and Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. in 35below. All tickets are $15.

IF YOU GO: Tickets are available online at www.ashevilletheatre.org, by phone at (828) 254-1320 or in person at the ACT Box Office. Asheville Community Theatre, 35 E. Walnut St., Asheville.

KeLLy WaLKeR

formed to rave reviews and standing ovations in theaters across the country! During the entire run of the show, the Children First holiday drive will be in the lobby. NC Stage is partnering with Children First to collect items for “Bedtime in a Bag” which include toiletry items, pajamas, and children’s stories! Saturday, December 27 is a special holiday benefit day with a portion of ticket sales from the 2 p.m. matinee being donated to benefit Children First. Here is what the critics had to say about this remarkable show: “The verbal and physical virtuosity of MacCauley’s embodiment of Mula’s play is masterful, interpreting the voices of 16 varied characters with almost gymnastic physical power.” ~ Asheville Citizen-Times “MacCauley, giving us Marley and Scrooge in dialogue, and more than a dozen other voices – male, female, animal – offers a tour-de-force bravado performance.” Founded by Charlie and Angie FlynnMcIver, North Carolina Stage Company is

pg. 18

“I have to redeem Old Scrooge?” celebrating its 13th year producing plays for the Asheville community. NC Stage was recently awarded the prestigious American Theatre Wing National Theatre Company Grant. For more details and a full calendar of events, please visit www.ncstage.org or call (828) 239-0263. IF YOU Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol. GO Performances December 17-28.

Wednesday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. Two performances on Saturday, December 27 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Children First Benefit, Saturday, December 27 at 2 p.m. Ticket Prices: $15-$28 tiered pricing based on seating. Student tickets are $10 anytime! Tickets are available by calling (828) 239-0263 or online at www.ncstage.org. Discounts are offered for groups of 6 or more. North Carolina Stage Company, 15 Stage Lane in downtown Asheville.

The 38th Annual Bernstein Family Christmas Spectacular!

Asheville’s favorite, raunchy, screwball holiday comedy from The Magnetic Theatre returns for The 38th Annual Bernstein Family Christmas Spectacular! The bawdy, bodacious, and boisterous Bernsteins are back, and they’ve got some special surprises in store for old fans and new friends! Judy Bernstein (Tracey Johnston-Crum, voted best actress in WNC in the Mountain Xpress poll three years in a row) is ready to get up close and personal with audiences at the Bernsteins’ most intimate venue yet – the BeBe Theatre in downtown Asheville. “I just can’t wait to get cozy – very cozy – with all of Asheville,” Judy said with a wink in a recent interview. The Bernsteins will bring their signature mix of skits, songs, dance numbers, and excessive drinking to the BeBe for a limited run (which will, as with all Bernstein Spectaculars, be for mature audiences only). Get your tickets now for this year’s Christmas Spectacular, which Asheville Scene called “the Christmas show to see in Asheville.” The show is expected to sell out, so advance ticket purchase is highly recommended.

The Bernstein Family Christmas Spectacular is for mature audiences only.

Ticket information can be found at www.themagnetictheatre.org IF YOU The 38th Annual Bernstein Family GO Christmas Spectacular, December 4-6,

11-13, and 18-20, at 7:30 p.m. nightly, with 10 p.m. performances on Fridays and Saturdays. Performances take place at the Bebe Theatre, 20 Commerce St. in downtown Asheville. Advance tickets highly recommended. All advance tickets are discounted $2 from purchase price at the door.

Advertising Sales Representatives Needed Help us promote local arts, organizations, and businesses. Great for earning extra income. Set your own hours. Potential earnings are up to you! Seniors are encouraged to apply. INTERESTED? Call (828) 646-0071, or e-mail info@rapidrivermagazine.com

Vol. 18, No. 4 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — December 2014 7

Surrounded by the beautiful mountains, Hendersonville is known as the “City of Four Seasons,” a place where one can be as idle or active as one wishes.

Hendersonville offers abundant cultural opportunities for residents and visitors of all ages. The Flat Rock Playhouse (the State Theater of NC), the Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra, festivals throughout the year, parks and hiking trails, all add to the diverse entertainment and recreational opportunities. Visit www.hendersonvilleartsdistrict.com

THE GREEN ROOM CAFÉ Hendersonville’s premier live dinner music venue, The Green Room Café, specializes in artisan crafted scrumptious food made fresh from local ingredients. The menu features signature dinner entrees, gourmet sandwiches, soups and salads, breakfast, and baked treats. The café offers beer & wine, Fair Trade, locally roasted, primo espresso and coffees, and an assortment of loose-leaf teas.

Live Dinner Music Friday & Saturday from 6-8 p.m. Friday, December 5: Americana by

Carrie Morrison, vocals and keyboard.

Saturday, December 6: Kevin Lorenz, guitar mix Jazz, Pop, Ragtime, Classical. Saturday, December 13:

Lake & Moore, acoustic guitar duo; Folk & Americana.

Brazilian Jazz with Guitarist Marc Yaxley.

Lake & Moore

Elise Pratt & Mike Holstein

Friday, December 26: Doug Johnson

Woody and Gary Lockaby; Pop & Blues.

Wednesday, December 31, New Years Eve: Jazz & Blues with Evalenia Everidge & Randy Hale.

The Green Room Café

536 North Main, Hendersonville (828) 692-6335 www.thegreenroomcafe.biz

BLUE RIDGE RINGERS PRESENT

Handbells for the Holidays

The Blue Ridge Ringers, a western North Carolina community handbell ensemble, will perform several public Christmas concerts in Hendersonville and Brevard, NC. Organized in September 1995, this 5-octave ensemble rings under the direction of Robert Currier of Brevard. All of the concerts are free and open to the public. From the classic “Ukrainian Bell Carol,” arranged by Hart Morris, to Cathy Moklebust’s compelling arrangement of “Silent Night,” the ringing of Christmas music on handbells is distinctive and refreshing. Valerie Stephenson’s arrangement of the Catalan carol, “Fum, Fum, Fum,” played in its entirety with mallets, is a visual and aural delight. Jolly Old Saint Nicholas makes a new appearance in a slow jazz/swing style, arranged by Joel Raney. “‘Twas in the Moon at Wintertime” was originally a French folk tune. Based

Connie engLe

on the Huron carol, the song evolved into a Canadian Christmas hymn and is now known as the first North American Christmas carol. The lovely and poignant “Manger Lullaby,” featuring a flute solo, weaves together the two familiar tunes of “Away in a Manger.” Arnold Sherman’s “Masters in this Hall,” a favorite of handbell ensembles, brings this centuries-old French carol to life with relentless drive and energy. These selections and others can be heard at the Blue Ridge Ringers concerts during the 2014 Christmas season.

CONCERT SCHEDULE Sunday, December 7 at 3 p.m. – Concert

with the Hendersonville Community Band. Blue Ridge Community College, Hendersonville campus Conference Hall.

This Month in Hendersonville

December 1-31 – Home for the Holidays.

Throughout the Historic Hendersonville & Flat Rock Area. For a complete listing of holiday events and Christmas tree growers visit www.historichendersonville.org. 800-(828) 4244 or (828) 693-9708.

Now through December 31 – Golden Age I & II, “Coming of the Railroad” exhibit. A rep-

lica of the Saluda Mountain Grade, the steepest main-line standard gauge railroad in the US; the History of Laurel Park, when visitors crowded the area’s lakes and pavilions to swim by day and dance by night; and a replica of a general store. Henderson County Heritage Museum. Wed.-Sat. 10-5 p.m.; Sun. 1-5 p.m. Free. (828) 694-1619

Now through January 6 – Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site. Decorated for

Saturday, December 20:

Jazz with Elise Pratt on vocals, Mike Holstein on guitar.

Hiﬆoric HENDERSONVILLE & Flat Rock

ARTS & CULTURE IN HENDERSONVILLE

Friday, December 19: Classical

Christmas in the simple style of the Sandburgs with poinsettias and a traditionally decorated Christmas tree. House Tour Admission: Adults $5; Seniors 62 & Older $3; children 15 & under admitted free. Closed Christmas and New Year’s Day. Flat Rock. (828) 693-4178

December 4-7 – SRA Finals Rodeo. WNC Agricultural Center, McGough Arena, Fletcher, (828) 254-8681 Friday, December 5 – Olde Fashioned Hendersonville Christmas. Merchants host an open house with refreshments, entertainment

8 December 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 18, No. 4

and late night shopping. 5-8 p.m., Historic Downtown Hendersonville. (828) 233-3216

December 5 & 6 – Bullington Gardens Holiday Sale. Freshly cut Fraser fir trees, wreaths

and garland. Benefits the educational programs at Bullington Gardens. 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Hendersonville. (828) 698-6104

December 5 & 6 – WNC Fly Fishing Expo.

WNC Agricultural Center Expo Bldg., Fletcher. (828) 687-1414

December 5-7, 11-14, 18-21 – Hendersonville Little Theatre presents People’s Choice. Vote for A 1940’s Radio Christmas

Carol (musical), Little Women, It’s a Wonderful Life (musical), or The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.; Sundays at 2 p.m. (828) 692-1082

Saturday, December 6 – Christmas Open House at the Historic Johnson Farm. Guided

tours of the farmhouse and the weaver’s building, refreshments, farm animals, sale of baked goods, small greenery centerpieces and fiber creations. Bring your camera for family photos in front of the antique sleigh, wagon rides available, weather permitting. $5; children $3; preschoolers free. Parking at Rugby Middle School, shuttle bus available. (828) 891-6585

Saturday, December 6 – Hendersonville Christmas Parade. Main Street, Five Points to Caswell Street. 10 a.m. (828) 692-4179

The Blue Ridge Ringers

Tuesday, December 9 at 12 noon – Concert at the Transylvania County Public Library.

Friday, December 12 at 3 p.m. – Henderson County Public Library, Kaplan Auditorium.

Sunday, December 21 at 4 p.m. – Concert

at the First Presbyterian Church, Hendersonville, N. Grove St. & US 64.

December 11-14 – United States Dog Agility Association (USDAA) Dog Agility Trial. Dogs

jump hurdles, race through tunnels and climb over A-frames at high speed. 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free admission. McGough Arena, WNC Agricultural Center. Please leave your dogs comfortably at home. Presented by the Blue Ridge Agility Club, (828) 243-3821.

December 11-14 & 18-21 – Music on the Rock: A Motown Christmas. Flat Rock Play-

house Downtown presents a tribute concert featuring hits by Motown artists. 8 p.m. (828) 693-0731 or 866-732-8008.

Saturday, December 13 – A Carolina Christmas featuring the Greenville Chorale. Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra teams up with the Greenville Chorale to present a holiday celebration. Concert includes sacred and seasonal favorites. Tickets: $35; $5 for students. Blue Ridge Community College Concert Hall, Flat Rock. (828) 697-5884

Friday, December 26 – Indoor Motocross.

McGough Arena, WNC Agricultural Center, Fletcher. (423) 323-5497

Saturday, December 27 – Christmas at Connemara. Carl Sandburg Home. Music and

storytelling from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the garage adjacent to the Sandburg Home. Refreshments, holiday craft-making from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Flat Rock. (828) 693-4178. IF YOU Information is subject to change. GO Compiled by the Henderson County

Tourism Development Authority, 201 South Main Street, Hendersonville. Call (828) 693-9708, 800-(828) 4244, or visit www.historichendersonville.org

F L E M M IN G S T

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Matinees Wednesday, Thursday & Sunday at 2 p.m. Admission $40. Flat Rock Playhouse, 2661 Greenville Highway, Flat Rock.

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IF YOU A Christmas Carol, on stage through GO December 21. Wednesday-Saturday at 8 p.m.

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AT THE FLAT ROCK PLAYHOUSE

This new, adventurous interpretation takes the famous story and infuses it with laughter, love and a brand new score that celebrates the holiday season. With more than a dozen new songs and exciting new characters, this world premier is a great event for the whole family.

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Vol. 18, No. 4 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — December 2014 9

It’s Jingle Time

pg. 18

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fine art

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Ariel Gallery FINE CRAFTS FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Tradition. Vision. Innovation.

Bright with crafts By DenniS Ray and fine art, Ariel Gallery, a finecraft artist co-op gallery, offers a variety of mingling textures.

Fiber arts are on display alongside woodturning, jewelry, pottery, sculpture and glass. David Vrooman’s stunningly beautiful jewelry is on view alongside Janet Taylor’s incredible textiles. There At Ariel Gallery you will find an impressive array of quality, handmade jewelry, is a wide array of sculpture, glass, fiber, wood, ceramic, and mixed media works. styles and perspectives assembled by to its present location on Biltmore Avenue across from the Fine 12 different artists. Arts Theatre in 2008. In a city full of fine craft galleries and a reThe concept of an artistgion brimming with artisans, Ariel Gallery is a standout. Owned owned and operated fine craft galand operated by the exhibiting artists themselves, this unique lery in downtown Asheville began gallery is a showcase for original works of handmade jewelry, with a working group of area craftssculpture, glass, fiber, clay, mixed media, and woodwork. people meeting in various peoples’ “All of the artists are local,” says David Vrooman. “Every homes in 2000 and 2001. Borrowartist is part owner of Ariel Gallery and each artist is required to ing its name from Shakespeare’s work so many days per month.” Because they are an artist-run “The Tempest,” Ariel Gallery gallery, visitors can look forward to the unique experience of opened for business in April, 2002 Wood Vessel by meeting at least one of the gallery’s artists on any given day. on Haywood Street before moving Joel Hunnicutt Custom and commission works are available by most of their members. Having the artists own part of the gallery insures everyone takes pride not only in their work but the goings on of the business. Vrooman explains that each artist also belongs to a committee, such as adverting and promotion etc.

Seeing Through the Eyes into the Soul

Fine art exhibit for James Daniel opens at the Blackbird Frame & Art Gallery.

Michael Hatch

930 Tunnel Road/Hwy 70, Asheville, NC 828.298.7903

Betsy Morrill

Peter Chapman

continued on page 37

KiMBeRLina MaRie

Diversified and internationally refined local artist, James Daniel, is skilled in the techniques of figurative and portraiture art. He makes the effort to learn as much as is available from the time tested methods of past great master artists. His work portrays true craftsmanship and holds your attention to the mystery of the human form. There is always a dialogue to his art that will keep viewers enthralled and captivated. James cultivates the perfect marriage between traditional and contemporary art forms. Portrait commissions are accepted. Come experience the knowledge and magical chemistry of James Daniel.

IF YOU Artist reception Friday, GO December 5 from 7-9 p.m.

Portrait by James Daniel

Milepost 382 - BlueRidge Parkway, Asheville, NC 828.298.7928

Live demonstration at 8 p.m. Refreshments and hors d’oeuvres will be served. Blackbird Frame & Art Gallery, 365 Merrimon Ave., Asheville. www.blackbirdframe.com.

26 Lodge Street, Asheville, NC 828.277.6222

Located inside Omni Grove Park Inn

Local and Regional Handmade Crafts Now in our 30th year of supporting American handmade pg. 36

Pendant by Niki Fisk

Gallery of the Mountains

290 Macon Avenue TOLL - FREE

(800) 692-2204

•

Asheville, NC

(828) 254-2068

Steven Forbes-DeSoule

WWW.CRAFTGUILD.ORG The Southern Highland Craft Guild is an authorized concessioner of the National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

www.galleryofthemountains.blogspot.com

Vol. 18, No. 4 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — December 2014 11

spinning discs

CD Reviews by James Cassara

Weirdon

Drag City Music

This Philadelphia based trio delight in swirling groove arrangements propelled by fuzz laden guitars and an underpinning of psychedelic pop. Front man guitarist/singer/songwriter Mike Polizze is a one man wrecking band, alternately introducing elements of grunge, folk, and all out assault guitar with equal ease. Much like last year’s Water on Mars, Weirdon conjures up the best of 1990s independent rock without miring in the self absorbed excesses that too often marked that era. Dazzling numbers such as “Forcefield of Solitude” and “Where’s Sweetboy?” are reminiscent of primo Sonic Youth or Husker Du but when the band dials it down, as in the folksy “Reptili-a-genda” they bring to mind a mix of Paul Westerberg and various periods of Beck. None of which adequately describes the sheer bullishness of Weirdon

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We Carry NEW and Used Vinyl Mention this Ad and Receive 15% Off Rock & Roll Jewelry and Accessories Records • CD’s • Tapes • Posters T-Shirts • Stickers • Sweatshirts & more

I’m wrapping up another year of music with a slew of new releases, highlighted by a couple of “just in time for the holidays” top flight (one not so much) reissues! Be sure to visit www.RapidRivermagazine.com for more reviews, and to support the local record shop of your choosing.

Purling Hiss

pg. 36

828-575-9333

www.mymusicwarehouse.com • If we don’t have it, we can find it! 12 December 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 18, No. 4

or the complex ways in which is weaves together obvious influences into a sound that is entirely its own. ****

Twin Peaks Wild Onion

Grand Jury Music

At times, the introduction of this quartet, whose members have yet to reach their 20th birthdays, sounds more like prison break than an album. Played with a wild abandon and arrogance (in a good way) that is rarely heard these days, Wild Onion is a fresh blast of high octane energy with songs ranging from the swagger of “Telephone” to the more reflective “Strange World” to the endearing soul/pop of “Strawberry Smoothie.” Co-produced by the shrewd team of R. Andrew Humphrey and Colin Croom the sound is clear, bright, and joyous, augmented with wonderfully ragged vocal harmonies, pounding drums, and sweet as honey arrangements. The overall affect is a glittering example of a multi-dimensional band just feeling their oats while getting some sense of how good they can be. It’s as strong a debut as I’ve heard this year, and a shining example of the virtues of youthful innocence. ****

The Hollies 50 at Fifty

Parlaphone/Rhino

In celebration of the Hollies’ 1964 album debut (their first single was released in late 1963) the usually reliable Rhino Records has put together what should have been the lavish and meticulously researched boxed set the band so richly deserves. Unfortunately 50 at Fifty is a missed opportunity; sure the music is grand – with this many tracks by one of England’s great groups it would be nigh impossible to go wrong – but the unimaginative sequencing and lack of deep cuts leaves this collection sounding perfunctory at best. Longtime Hollies fans will likely nitpick with a few omissions (no “Long Dark Road”?) and the inclusion of a lone new song, the schmaltzy “Skylarks” adds nothing to the band’s glorious resume, but it’s the packaging, or rather lack of, that really disappoints. A slim 12 page booklet fleshed out with middling photos and liner notes that go no further than song writing credits, is a slap in the face to the band (whose individual names aren’t even mentioned!) and their fans. No tidbits on the many session musicians The Hollies employed, no chart status, no anecdotal recollections of their glory years from those who were there. It’s just maddening. Those new to The Hollies would be better served by seeking out the fine 30th

Anniversary Collection or the EMI 3x10 Anthology. As a last resort you can download this release and visit the bands website for the historical background. As a long time devotee to Manchester’s greatest band I’ll give the music four stars: But shame on Rhino for failing to do the boys right. **

Dave Mason Future’s Past Barham Productions

Available at his shows or via his website this nine song collection is a fine reintroduction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, as well as a nifty compliment to his current Dave Mason’s Traffic Jam tour. Four reworked takes of early material (highlighted by a jaunty “You Can All Join In”) mixed in with others showcasing the width and depth of his talents. “How Do I Get To Heaven?” fulfills a promise to his Traffic mate Jim Capaldi by finishing the song Capaldi had begun just prior to his passing; it’s a moving tribute to a fine musician and friend, while “Good 2 U” reminds us that new love can happen at any time. Having finally regained control to the publishing rights of his classic songs Mason has again embraced his legacy. Bully for him and a bonus for us. ****

The Flaming Lips With a Little Help From Our Fwends Warner Brothers

Having already retuned Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon and King Crimson’s In the Court of the Crimson King, the Flaming Lips now take on the most iconic album of them all. Armed with a bevy of guests, Wayne Coyne and company deconstruct what might be the most famous rock album ever, but one wishes they hadn’t. With its restless and fuzzed out sound With a Little Help… is a jumbled mess, not unlike listening to the fab four while under the influence of all the wrong substances. Coyne is desperately trying to recreate that sense of the unexpected but in doing so he totally misses the mark. Fwends is not an homage to the original but rather a tepid and dull mockery of it. The inclusion of such names as Miley Cyrus (seriously?) and Tegan and Sara might raise a few eyebrows but neither seems to have much to do. The uneven nature of Fwends gives it a patchwork feel (and Sgt. Pepper’s was nothing if not seamless) and adds little to The Lips reputation. I get what the band is trying to do and I continued on page 13

‘CDs’ cont’d from pg. 12

am not one of those who considers any work of art sacred beyond reconstruction. But Fwends comes across as a joke gone wrong, making me question what I saw in this band in the first place. Time to go give The Soft Bulletin or Yoshima Battles The Pink Robots another listen so I can fall in love with these guys all over again. **

Jesse Winchester

A Reasonable Amount of Trouble

Appleseed Music

Few musicians infused their personalities into their music as succinctly as did the late Jesse Winchester. Cordial, humble, honest, and with a sense of wit as dry as the Sahara, Winchester always came across as the sort you’d like to spend an afternoon with. While his 1970 Robbie Robertson produced debut remains his best known effort, the years that followed were no less artistically rewarding. And while his move to Canada to avoid the draft prevented his touring the US, Winchester’s tunes became favorites for other more well known names; Jimmy Buffett (who contributes the liner notes to this release), Emmylou Harris, Elvis Costello and Wilson Pickett are among the many who recorded his songs. But his versions were the definitive ones, making this posthumous effort a bittersweet affair. Never the most prolific of writers – Winchester would go years between recordings – herein he revisits songs from his early days while adding a few new ones (along with a trio of late 1950s numbers). Despite his health issues the mood is jubilant, almost playful, as Winchester and his entourage of long time friends straddle the course of his career. Most of the new songs were written and recorded after he survived an earlier bout with esophagus cancer, giving the material the veneer of a man grateful for his new lease on life. And while that illness certainly wore down the smooth edges of his voice the courser texture of his late period singing beautifully suits such songs as the rootsy “A Little Louisiana” or the bounce along romance of “All That We Have Is Now.” His cover of the Del Vikings “Whispering Bells” is fleshed out with doo wop harmonies, a sax solo that is perfect for the era it evokes. Only the Cajun ditty “Never Forget to Boogie” falls flat but given the circumstance we can forgive a misfiring or two. It’s a real shame Jesse Winchester spent his most creative years in exile and an even greater one that he left us just as his creative spark seemed to be returning. But I’m obliged for the music he did give us; A Reasonable Amount of Trouble is by no means a masterpiece but it’s a solid enough work by an artist who deserved sales to match his standing. If nothing else it might inspire a few wise readers

sound experience

New Years Eve with The Fritz & Zansa

Asheville Music Hall will be closing out the year with an all-star Asheville mix of Afro-pop and Funk.

SaM KaTZ

all over the country. Zansa is led by 33rd generation West African Celebrate New Years Eve musician Adama Demin style with two great local bele. Zansa is a Nouchi bands! The Fritz and Zansa will slang word from Ivory come together to give Asheville Coast meaning “combione of the best musical nights nation” or “blend.” The it’s ever seen. This eclectic band describes themmelding of genres will provide selves as “a synthesis of your feet with plenty of matetraditional and modern rial to get them moving. This styles of West African show takes place on New Years The Fritz afropop.” Eve, Wednesday, December 31 This month AMH also hosts their beginning at 8 p.m. annual Enter The Earth Xmas Party on The Fritz is a funk, jam band, originally Friday, December 12 at 9 p.m. This is from Florida who transplanted to Asheville one of best parties of the year. This year in 2010 as a whole unit. They were immedithe party hosts local New Orleans styled ately, and warmly welcomed into the vibrant, brass band, Empire Strikes Brass, along local music scene and have continued to have with a few other special guests. Empire solid success in Asheville, as well as touring Strikes Brass is the creation of long-time Asheville musician Paul Juhl. Empire started cutting their teeth by introducing second line parades to Asheville in 2012. They have since expanded to the stage with a 10-piece New Orleans brass funk band, and a groundbreaking DJ/Electronic/Brass section. IF YOU Asheville Music Hall, 31 Patton GO Ave, Asheville. (828) 255-7777, or

Zansa Photo: Melissa Reardon

of this magazine to delve into his catalog and the rich rewards to be found. ***1/2

Rory Gallagher Irish Tour ’74 40th Anniversary Deluxe Boxed Set Sony Music UK

Quite simply one of the greatest live albums of all time, leaving me again wondering why Gallagher never became the superstar his talent warranted. This 40th anniversary has all the goods, including the full show (the original 2 LP set cut a few tracks), sound checks, a live DVD, and meticulously researched liner notes. They’ve even generously tossed in a pair of Belfast shows from the week previous to this one. The sound is expertly remastered-Gallagher’s stunning guitar and gut bucket vocals have never sounded better-while his core band of drummer Rod De’Ath, bassist Gerald McAvoy, and keyboardist Lou Martin are at their peak. This was a time when virtually no performers-Irish or not-dared to tour the strife torn island, but Gallagher bucked the odds and

www.AshevilleMusicHall.com for more information.

was rewarded with what are now seen as his finest gigs. Highlights include a dramatic take on Muddy Waters’ “I Wonder Who” and an acoustic rendering of Tony Joe White’s “As the Crow Flies” that crackles with energy. “Too Much Alcohol” has a prophetic twinge – Gallagher passed away from complications owing to liver transplant surgery in 1995, at age 47 – and while the 12 minute marathon of “Walk On Hot Coals” remains his authoritative moment, there’s simply too much greatness here to absorb at once: Which is why this seven disc set seems not the least bit excessive, but the mere tip of the iceberg. *****

Shelby Lynne I Am Shelby Lynne-Deluxe Edition

Rounder Records

When Shelby Lynne released her sixth album, few country fans could have been prepared for what was in store. It sounded nothing like her previous efforts while estab-

Chris Rosser with Special Guests Free Planet Radio By

Chris Rosser

KaChina DaVine

An evening of well-crafted, beautiful new songs, and the cultural sounds of world music.

Asheville’s award-winning multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer, Chris Rosser will celebrate the release of his new CD, A Thousand Hands. Rosser will be joined by fellow Free Planet Radio members, world-renowned percussionist River Guerguerian, and two-time Grammy award-winner, bassist Eliot Wadopian. The evening will include songs from the new CD, followed by the eclectic world music of Free Planet Radio. A Thousand Hands is primarily a solo affair, with Rosser playing nearly all of the instruments, and his wife, Lynn Morgan Rosser, singing harmonies.

IF YOU GO: CD release show with Chris

Rosser and special guests Free Planet Radio, Friday, December 12 at 8:30 p.m. Tickets: $12 advance/$15 door. ISIS Music Hall, 743 Haywood Rd, Asheville. (828) 575-2737, www.isisasheville.com.

lishing Lynne as a genuine star: So much so that I Am Shelby Lynne earned her a new artist Grammy, despite her having spent more than a decade as a recording artist. Fifteen years late, Rounder Records, to whom Lynne is currently signed, has repackaged and expanded I Am into a deluxe and most welcome offering. Six previously unheard tracks are added to the original ten (which is sweet enough) but what really makes this worth having is the bonus DVD, a fiery 90 minute live show that literally rocks the house. This impeccably filmed and recorded performance, from April 2000, features Lynne fronting her six piece band, sliding easily from soul to pop to take no prisoners rock. A stunning version of John Lennon’s acerbic “Mother” sits comfortably near a mournful remake of Glen Campbell’s by way of Jimmy Webb’s “Wichita Lineman.” The performance is emotionally stunning, musically delirious, and nothing short of breathtaking. Its inclusion makes an already brilliant reissue even better and more than justifies this deluxe reissue of her breakthrough masterpiece. *****

Vol. 18, No. 4 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — December 2014 13

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PROOFREADING SERVICES A sharp eye for the big picture and the small details. Books • Websites Short Stories • Cookbooks Assistance with Self Publishing

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The Poet’s Voice

WINTER LIGHT

Evening’s phosphorescence through skeletal trees arrives around 5:15. This light stuns, dazzles, illuminates. Do I love the day’s first light, or last light best? I can’t choose. I do know that when the sun sets in the west and shines on our sourwood tree, it’s last leaves are the stained glass in our formerly green cathedral. Polish poet, Czeslaw Milosz, edited an International Anthology of poetry titled, A Book of Luminous Things. This collection speaks of “epiphanies, realities unveiling. An epiphany interrupts the flow of time when we intuitively grasp an essential hidden in things or persons.” “I see the light,” is an expression of an ephiphany, or ‘showing.’ The Book of Common Prayer includes an evening prayer called, “Gracious Light,” or The Phos Hilaron. The tone of the second verse is Celtic in essence: Now as we come to the setting of the sun, and our eyes behold the vesper light, we sing Your praises . . . . I love this word magic and the illumination it brings to the world. Wonder is present. The miracle of the moment revealed. I heard Mary Oliver read in St. Paul, Minnesota. She leaned on her podium and said, “All poems are prayers.” Perhaps all

Books make great gifts. They provide

hours of surprise, escape, and discovery. Here are a few suggestions for fresh new reads from the staff at Malaprop’s.

KENDRA

This book is a fun exploration into strange, impossible-seeming creatures, but it’s so much more than that, too. Henderson combines mythology, history, philosophy, and science to present a nuanced vision of our world and to open up a discussion of our role within it. It’s fascinating and entertaining, and it still leaves you feeling more enlightened at the end of it.

Yes Please by Amy Poehler

Reading this book felt like reading a long letter from a good friend. It’s funny, sweet, sharp, and full of embarrassing pictures of Amy – in other words, it’s just about as perfect as a memoir can get.

14 December 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 18, No. 4

CaRoL peaRCe BJoRLie – The poeT BehinD The CeLLo

Stop for the light. Pay attention. Put it’s prayers are poems, too. (I’ll leave that discuspresence on the page. sion to my theological friends.) In Mary’s book on writing, A Poetry Handbook, she shares her light: “Good poems are Food for Thought, a the best teachers.” She Soulspeak slam, will be The Round is suggesting that to see held at Rainbow ComLight splashed this morning the light, you must read, munity Center, Saturday, on the shell-pink anemones memorize and inwardly December 13. After our swaying on their tall stems; digest works by great and over indulged Halloween down blue-spiked veronica ordinary writers. Poetry and Thanksgiving, and light flowed in rivulets is found in your library in our impulsive purchases over the humps of the honeybees; the Dewey Decimal sysof dark chocolate Santas, this morning I saw light kiss tem at 811. Book stores come down to earth. the silk of the roses are bursting with poems. Soulspeak is raising in their second flowering, One will fall from the awareness and $$ for my late bloomers shelves into your hands MANNA food bank. flushed with their brandy. crying, “Read me!” (This The main course will be A curious gladness shook me. happened to me.) be poetry. Bring dollars Mary reminds us ~ Stanley Kunitz and peanut butter. YOU that the light/essence/ are invited! voice of poetry is found in details. Details identify you. The late Stanley When The Light Appears Kunitz’s voice remains You’ll bare your bones you’ll grow you’ll pray you’ll only know as present as his watering When the light appears, boy, when the light appears can. (This poet knew his You’ll sing & you’ll love you’ll praise blue heavens above dirt.) Anemones and veWhen the light appears, byou, when the light appears ronica bloomed to please You’ll whimper & you’ll cry you’ll get yourself sick and sigh him. Verse one of “The You’ll sleep & you’ll dream you’ll only know what you mean Round” is full of light. When the light appears, boy, when the light appears. Allen Ginsberg saw another kind of light. ~ Allen Ginsberg

ATTENTION!

Malaprop’s Holiday Recommendations

The Book of Barely Imagined Beings by Caspar Henderson

Your Book Advertised Here

authors ~ poetry ~ books

We are in the time of Phos hilaron, gracious light.

828-581-9031

I want to meet you all, writers, dreamers, readers and listeners. We need each other. Contact Carol at bjorlie.carol@yahoo.com

LAUREN N. 2 AM at the Cat’s Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino

Bertino’s novel follows brassy, nine year-old jazz singer Madeline, the recently divorced, but deep in unrequited love Sarina, and down on his luck bar owner Lorca as their lives collide on a serendipitous Christmas Eve in Philadelphia. It’s a buoyant, swinging story that is full of life, wit, and jazzy snark. Utterly charming!

LAUREN H. Something Rich & Strange by Ron Rash

These selected stories showcase the full range of Rash’s talents from his earliest collections to the few new stories included. Expect the beautiful language, rich settings, and human struggles that show up in his stories, novels, and poetry.

Aimless Love by Billy Collins

One of our most astute and amused poets showcases his career in Aimless Love. Collins wears his sense of humor and his open eyes in these poems, always written with his Irish lyricism. continued on page 15

POETRIO Sunday, December 7 at 3 p.m. Readings and signings by three poets at 3 p.m.

IF YOU GO: Malaprop’s Bookstore &

Cafe, 55 Haywood Street, downtown Asheville. Call (828) 254-6734, or visit www.malaprops.com.

authors ~ books ~ readings

‘Malaprop’s’ cont’d from page 14

LAURA Let Me Be Frank With You, by Richard Ford

Pulitzer Prize-winner, Richard Ford, is an American Master. Whether or not you were a fan of his Bascombe novels (The Sportwriter, Independence Day, The Lay of the Land), you should pick this one up.In this new collection of four brilliant narratives, Frank Bascombe is back and attempting to interpret the world in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Each one is full of insights on the human condition expressed as only Richard Ford can.

The League of Seven by Alan Gratz

This is Alan’s ninth book for younger readers and, if you haven’t tried him yet, this is the perfect place to start. A steampunk and alternate American history hybrid, this first book in a new series is full of awesome things like brass goggles, airships, tentacled monsters, brains in jars, windup robots, secret societies, and super powers! It is perfect for boys or girls and even the most reluctant reader on your list will not be able to resist the fun! Recommended for ages 10 and up.

CAROLINE One Plus One by Jojo Moyes

A wonderful, fun, and light read that will make you smile and love the workings of serendipity! Two people from radically different worlds come together on a mission that will change their lives – and other’s lives – for the better.

The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson One of the funniest books I have read in a long time! The story of a centenarian’s present day antics – as well as his past through the course of the twentieth century – will have you laughing and loving Allan and his band of merry thieves as they romp all over Sweden!

JUSTIN

Beneath the Chatter

THE WISE SELF AWAITS

A Contemplative Photography Companion for the Journey Home, written by Tina FireWolf. “Invite yourself into the room… into the conversation, into the moment – into your life fully alive.” Like many people, I am challenged every day by the speed and busyness of my life. Being typically caught up in my “editorial” mind, I crave more time in my heart. If you’re at that place in life, determined to slow down a bit, Tina FireWolf’s book, Beneath the Chatter, is a companion on your path. When Tina and I met to talk about her book, I noticed that in her presence, I easily shifted from hurrying and accomplishing, to a more contemplative and relaxed state. We had fun talking about what “makes” a spiritual life. For both of us, it’s less about time on a meditation cushion, doing it right and more about how you live your life. “Fit your spiritual life into your everyday life.” For me, it’s about kindly and compassionately moving about your day. Striving to be aware and engaged in the moments of life. In Beneath the Chatter Tina tells beautiful, vivid stories of her awakening experiences. The book is sprinkled with delightful moments that let the reader connect with her journey and see that yes, it’s often a difficult and emotionally messy one. But the reader is

pReVieW By

KaThLeen CoLBuRn

shown throughout the book, that by slowing down and stepping into our challenges, we can connect more deeply with the simple joys that keep us moving along. With her stories Tina has included a collection of her stunning photographs that invite the reader to pause. “Be reflective. Allow the images to carry you – Beneath the Chatter of your mind.” These are photographs that show us the beautiful imperfections of the natural world. This book is rich with simple, but not necessarily easy practices. Tina’s Joyful Practice is one. When you catch yourself rushing, take a moment. Take a breath. “Over time, with joyful practice, you can lengthen the pause and receive the greatest gift life offers… the present moment fully experienced opened by the awareness of your Heart.” “Stop, Breathe, Feel – Repeat.” I love Tina’s “Everyday Enlightenment Tips.” Again they are essentially simple. I believe there is great power in accomplishing these simple steps, perhaps because we can easily see the affect they have on us. Connect with Tina at TinaFireWolf.com to set up a speaking engagement or for other fun. Beneath the Chatter is available at Malaprops Bookstore, or online at www.TinaFireWolf.com.

Writing Sensorably

How Expressive & Natural Voice Advance Recording Thoughts

Writing Sensorably, written by Michelle Payton, is for people who are interested in ways to record as much content as possible prior to polish stage. Payton marries expressive ideas with practical steps that enhance: self-help processing, scientific observations, creative writing, and journaling. Enhance descriptive work using multiple senses – seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, tactile or touching. Technical or methodical work is covered, with an interest in how published papers and research support

out-of-the-box processes. Payton demonstrates how natural voice and sensory-based writing contribute to building content. Using this process, left and right-brained communicators and writers will understand how storytelling, writing and even reading experiences enhance the recording and writing processes. Writing Sensorably: How Expressive & Natural Voice Advance Recording Thoughts, is Michelle Payton’s eighth book.

DECEMBER

PARTIAL LISTING

We host numerous Readings & Bookclubs, as well as Poetrio! Visit www.malaprops.com

READINGS & BOOKCLUBS Monday, December 1 at 7 p.m. BRIDGING DIFFERENCES Book Club discusses Little Failure: A Memoir by Gary Shteyngart Tuesday, December 2 at 7 p.m. CURRENT EVENTS Book Club Tuesday, December 2 at 7 p.m. WILD Book Club discusses The Wilds by Julia Elliott Wednesday, December 3 at 1 p.m. AUTISM Book Club discusses Life, Animated: A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes, and Autism by Ron Suskind Wednesday, December 3 at 7 p.m. MALAPROP’S Book Club discusses Travels with Epicurus: A Journey to a Greek Island in Search of a Fulfilled Life by Daniel Klein Sunday, December 7 at 3 p.m. Poetrio Monday, December 8 at 7 p.m. MYSTERY Book Club discusses The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell Tuesday, December 9 at 7 p.m. JAYE ROBIN BROWN presents No Place to Fall. Wednesday, December 10 at 7 p.m. RICK BRAGG presents Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story Tuesday, December 16 at 7 p.m. COMIX CLUB. Join bookseller Lauren for a discussion of Invisibles Vol 1: Say You Want a Revolution, part of the cult classic series by Grant Morrison. The club meets the third Tuesday at 7 p.m. Members get 10% off the monthly picks. Come on down and talk nerdy to us! Watch Podcasts – Visit malaprops.weebly. com for readings by Maureen Corrigan, Tom Robbins, Patti Callahan Henry, and others. You can also find Malaprop’s on iTunes and Podbay!

55 Haywood St.

(828) 254-6734 • 800-441-9829 Monday-Saturday 9AM to 9PM Sunday 9AM to 7PM

pg. 18

The End of Days by Jenny Erpenbeck

The latest novel from German writer Jenny Erpenbeck is difficult to describe, consisting of five books that each end in different possible deaths of our female protagonist. In practice, it makes much more sense as a touching, intelligent and wonderfully clever journey through the 20th century and the heartbreak of death itself. A beautiful, brilliant book.

SSSSSS SSSSSSSSSS IIIIIIIII IIII PPPPPPP/MMMMMM MMMMJJ MMMMM 1 DDD WWWWWWWW, SSSSSSSS FFFFFFFF 7, 2015 10:00-5:00 PM BBBBBBBB RRRR CCCCCCC III SSSSSS AAAAAAAAA, NC $105.00 RRRRRRRRRRRR JJJJJJJ 10, 2015 AAA ................ Vol. 18, No. 4 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — December 2014 15

A great way to kick off the holiday season!

to visually delight all ages. This year’s performance features the ACDT Expect the brilliantly adult company, White Dog unexpected from AsheProjectX International, ville Contemporary Dance and the students of New Theatre’s fourth annual Studio of Dance. With performance of The Nuttypical ACDT flair, The cracker and the Mouse King. Nutcracker and the Mouse The company shocked and King will again prove to be a surprised audiences last year wonderful Christmas story with their original version of full of adventure, courage The Nutcracker. and loyalty. An evening Though The Nutcrackwhere love comes alive in a er might be the world’s most spectacular modern dance famous ballet, if it is being experience. performed by the Asheville Asheville ContemContemporary Dance Theporary Dance Theatre atre (ACDT) you can guar(ACDT) is a non-profit antee it is something you A wonderful Christmas story full professional dance company haven’t seen before. Their of adventure, courage and loyalty. created in 1979. As western version of The Nutcracker North Carolina’s first couldn’t be farther from professional modern dance company, they beTchaikovsky’s famous ballet. It is based on the lieve that everything everywhere is dance and original and much darker story written in 1816 everyone is a dancer. ACDT is devoted to local by German author E.T.A. Hoffmann. and international work, forging collaborations “I always want to go back to the original and partnerships between Asheville artists and work,” artistic co- director Collard says. “The dance artists from around the world. characters and the story are so much more interesting.” Take for example the King and Queen of Sausages who surprised and delightIF ed last year’s audience with delightful humor, YOU The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, and the party guests wrapped in gorgeous GO December 5 at 7:30 p.m. and December 6 at 3 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $27; $20 costumes dancing a wild and wonderful polka. children; students and seniors $22. Diana And then there is the famous Mouse King, Wortham Theatre, Pack Place. Call (828) 257his lovely wife, and their numerous children 4530 for reservations or additional information creating havoc all over the ballet, with magical or visit www.dwtheatre.com. aerialists flying over head creating a surrealism

A Different Kind of “NutCracker Sweeet”

Inclusive Theatre-Arts program debut.

The D.E.F.T. Theatre-Arts program invites people of all abilities and beliefs to join them in celebrating diversity. This is not your ‘typical’ theatre group, nor the standard Nut-

Easy Monthly Billing Free Web Links & Ad Design Call (828) 646-0071

holiday performances

The Nutcracker and the Mouse King

Advertise with Rapid River Magazine

cracker Suite. While there will be some highly trained ballet and modern dancers, thanks to Ideafactory Dance Machine, there will also be Southside drummers, rap, beach music, dancing owls, sign language, and more. This NutCracker is the second holiday performance by a group some call “disabled.” But like the name DEFT itself, these players work diligently improving their arts and acting abilities, coordination, confidence, and teamwork to become skilled and adept. D.E.F.T. creates opportunities to collaborate between youth with disabilities and their mainstream peers, while bringing a new twist to old stories and hoping to change stereotypes throughout the community. IF YOU Join the celebration on December 10 at GO 6:30 p.m. at the Wesley Grant Southside

D.E.F.T. creates opportunities to collaborate between youth with disabilities and their mainstream peers, while bringing a new twist to old stories.

16 December 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 18, No. 4

Community Center, 285 Livingston Street, Asheville. Free with a donation of canned food or kids coats. For more information, contact Daydreamz project at (828) 476-4231 or visit www.daydreamzproject.org.

BLACK MOUNTAIN HOLIDAY FESTIVITIES

“It’s a Wonderful Life” in Black Mountain, the Little Town That Rocks!

December 4-31: Deck The Trees - View 20 beautifully decorated Christmas Trees at the Monte Vista Hotel. The results of a decorating competition. Friday, December 5: Holly Jolly -

Downtown, 5-8 p.m. Shops open with refreshments. Cherry Street/Sutton blocked off. Special entertainment at Old Caboose Stage. Black Mountain News open house. Black Mountain Center for the Arts Pottery Market.

Saturday, December 6: Santa On Town Square - noon to 3 p.m. Bring your camera for pictures with Santa in the Big Rocking Chair. Saturday, December 6: Christmas Parade “It’s a Wonderful Life,” 4 p.m. on State St., moving west from Flat Rock Rd. to Craigmont Rd. Saturday, December 6: Circle of Lights Luminaries, Santa, and music around Lake Tomahawk after the parade. Monday, December 8: Santa Claus Visits Red Rocker Inn. Free, 4-7 p.m. Bring your camera. Stay for dinner. Two children ages 12 and under eat free per paid adult. December 12 & 13: It’s a Wonderful Life - in Black Mountain. Participating shops open until 7 p.m., Street performers, music, cookie & food tours and more!

Saturday, December 13: Visions of Sugar Plums Cookie Tour. 4th Annual B&B and Country Inn Cookie Tour. 2-4 p.m. Admission fee.

Friday, December 19: Sweet Plum

Holiday Dessert Tour - 2 p.m. Creative Mountain Food Tours. For information and registration, (828) 419-0590, or visit www.creativemountainfoodtours.com

December 19 & 20: It’s a Wonderful Life

- in Black Mountain. Participating shops open until 7 p.m., Street performers, music, cookie & food tours. Storytelling at the Library from 2-4 p.m. and more!

December 19 & 20: Instant Christmas, improv comedy. $15, 7:30 p.m. Black Mountain Center for the Arts, 225 W. State St. (828) 669-0930 Detailed listing on www.ExploreBlackMountain.com or call 1-800-669-2301

Black Mountain Holiday Festivities Friday, December 5: HOLLY JOLLY Shopping Downtown 5-8pm

Holiday Gift Market and Mixed Media Show

The Red House Studios & Gallery is hosting a Holiday Gift Market and mixed media art show through December.

Santa Moo, original 10x10 inch oil painting by Pat Cotterill.

Folk art collaged barrel staves, 7x18 inches, by Marianne Reninger.

Artista, mixed media by Diane Hammer, on display at the Red House Gallery.

The market has artist made gifts including turned wood, fiber art, jewelry, altered art, folk art, ceramics, journals, small fine art prints, cards, ornaments and many more original, unique works. “Our artists have priced these items from $10 to $100 to encourage people to buy from local talent for their friends and family,” says Ray Mata, coordinator of the market. “Dimensions of Mixed Media” is currently on display at the Red House gallery. These works include creations by regional artists using two or more distinct mediums in one integrated piece of art. This allows great versatility and provides a rich viewer experience as the eye uncovers the multiple layers and dimensionality that often characterizes mixed media art. This characteristic of mixed media contributes to its popularity within the modern art world. Viewers will see works that use paint, encaustic, cold wax, collage, assemblage, paper, textiles, found objects, metals, clay, fiber, wood and more. People think that because we are known as a fine art league we limit ourselves to the development of “traditional” art. However our mission encourages our members to explore all avenues of creativity from experimental to reallife drawing.

IF YOU The historic Red House, home of the Swannanoa GO Valley Fine Arts League is located at 310 West

State Street next to the Monte Vista Hotel. Gallery hours for November and December are Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information go to www.svfalarts.org or call (828) 669-0351.

Holiday Gift Market through January

5th

Saturday, December 6: SANTA on Town Square, noon - 3pm CHRISTMAS PARADE - “It’s a Wonderful Life” 4pm CIRCLE OF LIGHTS - Around Lake Tomahawk after the parade Monday, December 8: SANTA CLAUS at Red Rocker Inn 4-7pm. Decembe 12, 13, 19 & 20: Shop until 7pm – Street performers, December Music, Cookie & Food Tours & more! Through December 31: DECK THE TREES at Monte Vista Hotel

Detailed listing on www.ExploreBlackMountain.com or call (800) 669-2301 Presented by the Black Mountain Swannanoa Chamber of Commerce

pg. 39

Artist Made Gifts! $10 - $20 - $30 and more Presented by the Swannanoa Valley Fine Art League at the Historic

Red House Gallery in Black Mountain, NC Holiday Hours Tues.- Sun. 11-3PM

310 W. State St. 828-669-0351

www.SVFALarts.org

BLACK MOUNTAIN - 28711

MV MS

MB MK

MR Ma

Vol. 18, No. 4 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — December 2014 17

R A P I D

DECEMBER 2014

R I V E R

Downtown

Shops, Galleries & Restaurants

The Power of Place Works by

Everett Schmidt “I capture the essence of scenes using lively colors, a loose style, and understated detail.”

Find Unique + Local Gifts The Asheville Art Museum Shop is a fantastic place to find what you need to tackle your holiday gift list. We are proud to feature the crafts of many local artists. You’ll find beautiful jewelry, creative cards, art kits, sweatshirts, scarves and more! And remember, Museum members get 10% off all purchases.

Reception

Friday, December 5 5-8 pm Show runs December 1-31, 2014

GIVE THE GIFT OF ART

www.SusanMPhippsDesigns.com

Asheville Art Museum

2 S. Pack Square downtown Asheville. (828) 253-3227, www.ashevilleart.org

“My art conveys one of two themes, the innocence of childhood or the beauty of nature.”

Serenity Pose by Renee Williams S

“I strive to paint from a pure and thoughtful mind, for the pleasure of those who love color the best.”

St. Louis Cathedral, Path to Glory by Sandi Anton

ASHEVILLE GALLERY of ART 16 College Street, Downtown Asheville Monday-Saturday 10-5pm; Sunday 1-4pm 828.251.5796

www.ashevillegallery.of.art.com

pg. 18

18 December 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 18, No. 4

U L

1 - American Folk Art & Framing

10 - Benchspace Gallery & Workshop

2 - Ariel Gallery

11 - Gallery Minerva

3 - Artetude Gallery

12 - The Haen Gallery

4 - Asheville Art Museum

13 - Jewels That Dance

5 - Asheville Gallery of Art

14 - Mountain Made

6 - Bender Gallery

16 - The Updraft

7 - Black Mountain College Museum + Art Center 8 - Blue Spiral 1 9 - Castell Photography

15 - Susan Marie Designs 17 - Van Dyke Jewelry & Fine Crafts 18 - Woolworth Walk 19 - ZaPow 20 - Zest Gallery

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Fabulous Downtown Asheville More of What Makes Asheville Special

The Best Shops, Galleries & Restaurants

The Power of Place

WORKS BY EVERETT SCHMIDT

Everett Schmidt is Asheville Gallery of Art’s featured artist for the month of December.

Schmidt’s pastel studies strive to depict the essence of scenes from North Carolina, coastal Maine, New York City, and Europe. He agrees with the artist who said, “We are driven to capture what we know is fading and someday will be lost.”

SanDi anTon

IF YOU The Power of Place, works by Everett Schmidt. GO Opening reception, Friday, December 5, from 5-8

p.m. The exhibit runs from December 1 through December 31, 2014. The Asheville Gallery of Art is located at 16 College Street in downtown Asheville, across from Pritchard Park. Hours: Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 1-4 p.m. The gallery will be closed from 1:30 p.m. December 24, through December 25. For more information, call (828) 2515796 or visit www.ashevillegallery-of-art.com

Discover our feel-good gifts from around the world

Receive 25% off one item with this coupon *

*Offer valid at participating stores until 12/30/14. Not valid with other discounts, gift card, Oriental rug or Traveler’s Find purchases.

pg. 18

10 College St. in Asheville

828-254-8374 www.tenthousandvillages.com Use this logo for reductions only, do not print magenta. Do not reduce this logo more than 35%. Magenta indicates the clear area, nothing should print in this space. You may reduce the logo to 30% without the tag and strap lines. Color of Wood Block Motif critical match to Pantone 1805. Letters print Pantone Process Black.

Pastel by Everett Schmidt

The Western North Carolina artist paints with vivid colors, expressive style, and understated detail. He says, “My plein air paintings reflect not only the colors I actually see during outdoor studies, but the colors that I see in my mind’s eye. I hope to stir the viewer’s imagination and wonder at the beauty and spirit of a place.” The public is cordially invited to meet the artist at a reception on Friday, December 5, from 5-8 p.m.

pg. 18

Jce Schlapkohl Works on Display at: Asheville Gallery of Art, Downtown 5. 18

“After the Storm”

Seven Sisters, Black Mountain

Porchoir painting by Rick Hills with handmade bark frame

pg. 36

Cedar Hill Studios, . 30 Waynesville pg

1 Page Avenue ~ Historic Grove Arcade pg. 18

Suite 123 ~ 828.350.0307

MtnMade807@aol.com

www.MtnMade.com

pg. 18

www.joycepaints.com joyce@joycepaints.com ~ 828-456-4600

Vol. 18, No. 4 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — December 2014 19

E N S E M B L E

T H E AT R E

C O M PA N Y

P R E S E N T S

Your Vision Our Creation

WRITTEN BY Tom Mula Andrew Hampton Livingston STARRING Michael MacCauley

DIRECTED BY

“I have to redeem Old Scrooge?” December 17-28

ROBERTO VENGOECHEA

Wednesday-Saturday at 7:30 PM; Sunday at 2 PM Saturday, December 27 at 2 PM & 7:30 PM

100 Cherry Street ~ Black Mountain

Children First Beneet: Saturday, December 27 at 2 PM Tickets: $15-$28 • Students $10 anytime!

(15 minutes east of Asheville) pg. 41

828.669.0065 | www.VisionsofCreation.com

(828) 239-0263 • www.ncstage.org • 15 Stage Lane, Downtown Asheville pg. 36

WNC’s Unique Destination for Fine &

GALLERY

Tribal Art

SHAWN IRELAND PAINTINGS

CATHERINE MURPHY COPPER SCULTURE FEATURED

November 15 - December 23 pg. 36

20 December 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 18, No. 4

60 N. Merrimon Ave. Suite 105 N. Asheville, Exit 23 off I-26 & up the hill 10-5 Tue-Sat or by Appt. (828-989-0111)

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holiday gift guide Circles in Motion

Simplicity has always been a key element in Susan Marie’s work and circles are among nature’s most elegant and simplistic geometric forms. As a graduate of the Gemological Institute of America, the faceted gemstones and pearls Susan Marie carefully selects are the focal point of her pieces. When designing and making each one she uses the interacting half circles to compliment both the form and liveliness of each gemstone. The circles dance

Aquamarine

Sapphire

Opal

Peridot

and cascade around the stones, joining them together in a playful manner. Susan Marie uses a wide variety of natural color gemstones in her work, from Aquamarines to Sapphires. Natural color fancy South Sea and Tahitian Pearls are also used as a soft and elegant focal point to this series of work. Diamonds are used as an accent to contrast Tahitian Pearl with the colored

stones and pearls to enhance the sense of motion as one’s eye flows throughout the piece. While the finest quality gemstones she uses add elegance, the simplicity of form in her gold work assists with a casual touch. This allows the pieces to be worn for everyday use as well as for life’s most special occasions.

Susan Marie Designs 4 Biltmore Avenuem, Asheville, NC 28801 (828) 277-1272, www.susanmariedesigns.com

ASHEVILLE SYMPHONY

ORDER BY PHONE 828.254.7046

2014-2015 SEASON DANIEL MEYER, MUSIC DIRECTOR

www.ashevillesymphony.org Vol. 18, No. 4 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — December 2014 21

Now Accepting Reservations for Your Holiday Party

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LOCAL FOOD & DINING GUIDE

Your Passport to Discovering Excellent Food

• Gift Certificates Available •

The Green Room Café and Coffeehouse

Let’s start at the beginning.

It’s the summer of 1988. Sue a waitress, catches the eye of Ben, a bartender. They shared food, wine, romance, and a dream of having their own place. Fast forward to 2012. And now Sue and Ben Green have a chance to make that dream a reality. They searched for a place that matched their style and found a fading-but-promising coffee house in the now revitalized Main Street of Hendersonville, the best street in town. It appears

SuSan DeViTT

they have uncovered a gem. The Green Room Café and Coffeehouse is cozy with 5 outside tables, over .9 a dozen inside tables and a comfy seating hg area – living room style. True to a café, Saturday night had a guitar duo – playing loud Breakfast • Lunch • Dinner enough to enjoy and low enough to talk Artisan Crafted Scrumptious Food over - the perfect ambience. The service Made Fresh with Local Ingredients was excellent and personalized, adding to Gourmet Sandwiches the neighbor& Wraps • Desserts hood feel. Homemade Soups Salads • Kids Menu The Seafood • Steak Green Room Chicken • Pasta Pork Tenderloin Café is known Gluten-Free for its lunch, Vegetarian Espresso • Coffee but the Teas • Beer • Wine breakfast and Daily Food Specials Outdoor Dining dinner fair are first rate. The 828.692.6335 menu is broad Breakfast: Tues-Sat 8:30-10:30 am • Lunch: Everyday 11 am - 3 pm Dinner: Friday & Saturday 5:30 - 8:30 pm yet only one page, just a Live Dinner Music Fri & Sat Nights Ben and Sue Green, owners of Hendersonville’s Green Room. few special536 N. Main Street • Hendersonville ties in each category. (Thank you – is anyone really fond of a menu that reads like a catalog?) The dinner menu (Friday and Saturday nights) includes appetizers, seafood, steak, pork and chicken. It has sandwiches and burgers, salads and soups with plenty of vegetarian options. They open at 8:30 am for breakfast Thank You Rapid River as they prepare for the day. The breakfastlunch menu, like the dinner menu, isn’t Magazine Magazine. I was pleasantly too large but has so many delicious choicsurprised by the wonderful es! They even have crab cakes, not a typical response my cafe attracted menu choice unless you’re in Baltimore. Please don’t ask for French fries with your when I advertised in your lunch, the Green Room does not have a magazine monthly magazine. deep fryer (yay!), they pride themselves on heart-healthy and chef made. They keep busy in the kitchen mak~ Gary Taylor, ing sweets, brownies, muffins, pies, cakes, owner of Cafe 64 cinnamon rolls and scones. Stop by for a cup of coffee/latte/espresso and your favorite sweet. Yes, they have gluten free options from the local GF bakery around the corner. (Cooked separately too.) Our visit on Saturday night started with a glass of wine, a California Malbec Café 64, 64 Haywood St., downtown Asheville and a California Cabernet. They also have beer including the local Sierra Nevada and Open daily, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., for breakfast and lunch. Dale’s Pale Ale. Along came complimen828-252-8333 • www.cafe-64.com tary warm pita bread and herbed olive oil. Round two was Brie with FROG jam and pita slices. FROG jam comes from the local Lyda Farms and it stands for Fig, Raspberry, Orange and Ginger. Can warm Brie be comfort food? Because it was. Free Web Links, Ad Design, Easy Monthly Billing For the main course we had pecan encrusted salmon, and the evening’s pg

“

”

Advertise with Rapid River Magazine (828) 646-0071 • www.rapidrivermagazine.com

22 December 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 18, No. 4

The dinner menu (Friday and Saturday nights) includes appetizers, seafood, steak, pork and chicken.

special of steak & shrimp primavera. The shrimp primavera with lots of fresh basil, and tomatoes was our favorite. It was lightly sautéed in extra virgin olive oil, the only oil in the house. The steak was well marbled, cooked as ordered, and about the most tender rib eye we’ve ever had. The classic pecan encrusted salmon came with sautéed seasonal vegetables and an Israeli couscous (larger than the American version) with quinoa. It was all very fresh and house-made, we knew the chef enjoys creating. You can’t visit a café without trying the coffee, so we ended with the homemade cheesecake drizzled with chocolate and caramel sauce, along with a cup of coffee from the local fresh roasted Sweet Gypsy Coffee. The Green Room Café has a full service espresso bar, which exclusively uses Sweet Gypsy. The NY style cheesecake was perfect. We can’t wait to go back again for breakfast and lunch, or just a coffee and homemade treat. See you there!

The Green Room Café and Coffeehouse 536 North Main Street Hendersonville, NC 28792 (828) 692-6335 Sunday & Monday 11 a.m. to 3-ish Tuesday - Saturday 8:30 a.m. to 3-ish Dinner: Friday & Saturday 5:30 p.m. to 9-ish

Susan Devitt is co-owner of Asheville food company BelloLea Artisan Kitchen, which makes delicious, fun Pizza Kits. She and husband Tom are confessed foodies and therefore won’t be leaving Asheville, unless they’re dragged out, kicking and screaming. Contact her at SusanBelloLea@gmail.com

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S pg. 36

Your Passport to Discovering Excellent Food

Amaretti Cake

WITH CREMA AL CAFFE AND RED BERRIES

Serves 8-12 people. Monday-Friday only. One coupon per check. Pizza of least value is free. Not valid with other coupons or discounts. Asheville location only. Expires 12/31/2014.

Preparation time: 50 min., plus one hour refrigeration.

Ingredients

1 cup Amaretti Cookies 3 1/2 Tbsp butter 3/4 cup pure chocolate 1 can condensed milk 3 Tbsp Crema al Caffe 1/4 cup dried cranberries 1/2 cup white chocolate 2 Tbsp Almond Creme 1/2 cup red berries 2 Tbsp Strawberry Vinegar

Eclectic Homemade Cuisine

Build up the cake layer by layer as follows: Line a spring form with parchment paper. Grind 1/3 cup Amaretti into crumbs. Melt the butter in a pan, remove from the hear and stir in the Amaretti crumbs. Spread this over the bottom of the spring form tin and press firmly. Refrigerate until the next step.

Chocolate Layer

Roughly chop 2/3 cup Amaretti. Melt the chocolate and condensed milk in a double boiler pan. Remove from heat, fold in the Crema al Caffe and then the Amaretti. Pour half of the mixture on top of the base. Pour the rest in the other spring form. Leave to stiffen in the refrigerator for at least an hour until the next step.

White Chocolate Almond Mixture Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler and remove from heat. Fold in the Almond Creme. Place in piping bag.

Fruit filling

Mix the fruit with the Strawberry Vinegar.

Mon - Fri 11:30am - 2am Sat & Sun 10:30am - 2am Kitchen open until 1am Daily

remaining white chocolate mixture. This cake can be prepared a day in advance. Add the red fruit to garnish just before serving. For more recipes please visit www.passionateabouttaste.com

TASTEFUL HOLIDAY GIFTS At Oil & Vinegar you’ll find a vast selection of imported olive oils and vinegars, pesto & tapenades, appetizers, marinades & sauces, dressings, mustards, salts, exotic herb mixes and more. With a host of handcrafted ceramics and culinary accessories, your purchase is guaranteed to enhance any home dining experience. No matter what the occasion, with a well-chosen gift from Oil & Vinegar and our beautiful packaging, you know that you have something uniquely special. We offer complimentary gift wrapping so your gift will look distinctly festive. Perfect for culinary enthusiasts!

777 Haywood Road, Asheville

Bar & Grill · Pool & Billiards

(828) 225-9782

www.westvillepub.com

15% Off Your Order Excluding Alcohol 1 Coupon Per Table

(828) 236-9800 Oil & Vinegar Asheville

Open 7 Days a Week

8 Town Square Blvd., Suite #150 Asheville, NC 28803 (828) 676-1678 www.asheville.oilandvinegarusa.com

Bring in this Ad and We’ll Take

Structure

Take the layer with the base and use the piping bag to add the majority of the white chocolate mixture in a circle on the edge of the chocolate base. Work in layers to build up a thick layer. Put the fruit filling inside this circle. Put the second layer of chocolate on top. Garnish the top layer with

pg. 36

50 Broadway ~ Asheville, NC pg. 18

Specialt y Pizzas • Spring Water Dough • Salads Vegan Soy Cheese, and other Vege tarian Options!

Delicious Hoagies & Pretzels Fresh-Baked Calzones Wireless Internet Access!

Vol. 18, No. 4 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — December 2014 23

Advertise in Our Dining Guide

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LOCAL FOOD & DINING GUIDE

Your Passport to Discovering Excellent Food in Western North Carolina

~ Free Web Links ~ Free Ad Design

Benefit Concert for Hunger Relief

Call now for a great deal! (828) 646-0071

The 3rd Annual Bluegrass Holiday Benefit, featuring Town Mountain and Mandolin Orange.

Town Mountain and Mandolin Orange will play a benefit concert at Isis Restaurant and Music Hall for two local hunger relief organizations, Funding America Through Entertainment (FATE), and Manna FoodBank. FATE brings attention to various hunger-related issues and generates revenue to combat hunger. For more information visit www.SupportFate.org New Belgium Brewing Company is sponsoring the event and will donate proceeds from their beer sales in addition to a monetary bonus. Town Mountain has

pg. 30

145 Wall Street

Downtown Waynesville

828.550.3610

pg. 30

eRin SChoLZe

dedicated a portion of ticket sales for the cause, and they have arranged for a 50/50 raffle the evening of the show. This is the Mandolin Orange: Emily third time that FATE Frantz and Andrew Marlin. and Town MounPhoto: D.L. Anderson tain have teamed up to fight hunger, having donated more than $3,000 towards the cause. Asheville-based Town Mountain’s hard driving bluegrass sound, tight harmonies, and stellar in-house songwriting have become the bands trademark. They light up the stage with their honky-tonk edge and barroom swagger. Town Mountain includes Robert Greer on vocals and guitar, Jesse Langlais on banjo and vocals, Bobby Britt on fiddle, Phil Barker on mandolin and vocals, and Nick DiSebastian on bass. Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz, from Carrboro, NC, are Mandolin Orange. With acoustic and electric guitars, mandolin and a hand-me-down fiddle, Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz draw the listener in with a heart-worn sensibility, combining bluegrass, rock and country. They released their third album, This Side of Jordan, last summer and have made quite a bit of noise on the folk/Americana circuit, while displaying a virtuosity and exuberance that crosses over to more indie-rock inclined audiences. IF YOU Town Mountain and Mandolin Orange, Friday, GO December 20. Admission $20; some balcony

seating. Doors open at 5 p.m. Come early and dine-in. Show at 9 p.m. Raffle. Isis Music Hall, 743 Haywood Road Asheville. Call (828) 575-2737, or visit www.IsisAsheville.com

pg. 18

pg. 36

a Culinary Gi Shop 8 Town Square Blvd. Asheville, NC 28803 828-676-1678

asheville.oilandvinegarusa.com 24 December 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 18, No. 4

Reel Take Reviewers:

 - Fantastic  - Pretty darn good  - Has some good points  - The previews lied  - Only if you must

CHIP KAUFMANN is a film historian who also shares his love of classical music as a program host on WCQS-FM radio. MICHELLE KEENAN is a long time student of film, a believer in the magic of movies, and a fundraiser for public radio.

M- Forget entirely For the latest REVIEWS, THEATER INFO and MOVIE SHOW TIMES, visit www.rapidrivermagazine.com

Illustration of Michelle & Chip by Brent Brown.

Questions/Comments?

BRENT BROWN is a graphic designer and illustrator. View more of his work at www.brentbrown.com.

You can email Chip or Michelle at reeltakes@hotmail.com

THE MONTHLY REEL

‘Tis the Season

MiCheLLe Keenan

Drop Kid and Bing Crosby’s Holiday Inn. You can find the listing on page 27. Pack Memorial Library will show a series of free holiday films the first three Thursday’s in December at 3 p.m., including Frank Capra’s classic It’s a Wonderful Life to kick off the series on December 4. Fresh off their successful Asheville Cinema Festival, Tom and Susan Anton will be hosting a free night of short films December 2 at 7 p.m. at Grace Center in Mills River. You can find out more about

As I write this (a week before Thanksgiving), I have yet to be struck by the faintest murmur of holiday spirit or an iota of Christmas cheer. It seems impossible that we can be so close to wrapping all those presents and another year. For those of us in the movie reviewing business we’ll be compiling our Top Ten lists for the year and voting for the best films of 2014 in just a couple of short weeks. The good Professor Kaufmann and I will be sure to report those findings in the January Reel Takes, but in the meanwhile we’ve still got an interesting array of films for your viewing pleasure this month. Chip gives his take on Christopher Nolan’s dimension-bending Interstellar, while I share a few thoughts about Michael Keaton’s comeback role Pack Memorial Library will show the beloved holiday classic, in Birdman, It’s a Wonderful Life, Thursday, December 4 at 3 p.m. Jon Stewart’s directional debut with Rosewater, and Eddie the films at the library and the Asheville Redmayne’s portrayal of Steven Hawking in Cinema Society shorts in the “What to Do” The Theory of Everything. Hunger Games guide on pages 34 & 35. fans will likely have flocked to see MockingIf your ‘what to dos’ include heading jay Part I by the time this issue comes out, to the cinema with your sweetie or family, which is good seeing as it was not available to we’ve also included a list of highlights for us for review before deadline. holiday movie season. In area screening news, the HenderUntil next time, we wish you sonville Film Society is off until January, but The Asheville Film Society has a full glad tidings, good movies, docket this month, including a couple of tiand happy holidays. tles for the season, Bob Hope’s, The Lemon

Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance 1/2

Short Take: In an effort to be taken seriously a former movie star, on the verge of a nervous breakdown, attempts to launch a dramatic play on Broadway.

REEL TAKE: Talk about art imitating life. The casting of Michael Keaton, twenty years after he last Birdman takes Michael Keaton to new heights. wore his caped crusader suit, in Alejandro González ing Zach Galifinakis, Naomi Watts and Emma Iñárritu’s play-like movie Birdman or The Stone, is excellent. Edward Norton who plays Unexpected Virture of Ignorance was a stroke a last minute replacement in the show, and of genius. And Keaton wasn’t afraid to persona theatrical prima donna to boot, puts it out alize the experience by sharing his own career there almost as much as Keaton does. highs and lows with his character Riggan Who knew Iñárritu could do comedy, Thomson. In a nutshell, Keaton plays a former dark comedy to be sure, but comedy no less. movie super hero, ‘Birdman.’ Desperate to be My only real criticism – and it did detract from taken seriously, he adapts a Raymond Carver the film for me – was knowing when to end it short story into a dramatic play for Broadway. and how to end it. Still though, with everyIt’s clear from the get go, that Riggan’s thing that happens in the course of its running psyche is hanging by a thread. He’s haunted time, I’m not sure how Birdman managed to constantly by a voice, his alter ego, ‘Birdget off the ground, but it does and it soars. man.’ Burdened by backstage shenanigans and theatrical catastrophe, production week of the Rated R for language throughout, some sexual play is destined to send Riggan to the brink of content and brief violence. insanity. Think of it as an All About Eve for a Review by Michelle Keenan middle aged action hero. His fight for clarity and dissent into madness is a fascinating and Interstellar  wild ride and Keaton is all in. His performance Short Take: Interstellar is a family friendly, is sure to bring him an Oscar nomination. thought provoking but overlong saga that Iñárritu further accentuates Riggan’s solidly entertains thanks to committed stress by shooting the film to look like one performances, arresting visuals, and continuous shot. I’ve heard some criticize some interesting though hardly unique this aspect, but for me it worked. Every shot plot twists. is a segue. The result is beautiful and even somewhat theatrical, but ultimately it serves REEL TAKE: A little background research on the purpose best because it’s unrelenting. The Interstellar will tell you that it was originally technical choreography to achieve this must conceived as a project for Steven Spielberg. have been a massive undertaking and in the This results in the film being a mix of Spielend Iñárritu makes it look so simple. berg and Christopher Nolan, which is a good When I first heard about Birdman, I thing. The shadow of Stanley Kubrick hovers thought it sounded a bit gimmicky. It may well over Interstellar as it is basically 2001: A Space be just that, but it works. The fun of Birdman Odyssey for the 21st century. In addition is watching it unfold. I could tell you more to 2001 there are references to several other about the plot, but it’s really not necessary. I movies including Reds, Days of Heaven, The will tell you that the supporting cast, includ-

Movies continued on page 27

Vol. 18, No. 4 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — December 2014 25

film reviews

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You…

The holiday season is upon us.

Before I Disappear

That means Hollywood will be rolling out some big-budget mainstream crowd pleasers and Oscar contenders. Whether it’s wholesome family fun, a CGI action-fest, or art house fare, there’s something for everyone at your local theatres. Here are some of the titles we’re looking forward to, in order of release date.

Short Take: A troubled young man and his straight-laced niece embark on a thrilling odyssey through New York City in this heartrending drama based on an Oscar-winning short.

NOW PLAYING The Imitation Game Short Take: Benedict Cumberbatch

stars as Alan Turing, the genius British mathematician, logician, cryptologist and computer pioneer who led the charge to crack the German Enigma Code that

REEL BUZZ: Small film, getting good notices.

Should be hitting the Carolina Asheville soon.

OPENS DECEMBER 5

OPENS DECEMBER 12 Top Five Short Take: Directed by Chris Rock,

Top Five tells the story of New York City comedian-turned-film star Andre Allen, whose unexpected encounter with a journalist forces him to confront the comedy career, and the past that he’s left behind. Stars Chris

Wild

The Gambler Short Take: Jim Bennett (Mark Wahl-

berg) is a risk taker. Both an English professor and a high-stakes gambler, Bennett bets it all when he borrows from a gangster (Michael Kenneth Williams) and offers his own life as collateral. Always one step ahead, Bennett pits his creditor against the operator of a gambling ring (Alvin Ing) and leaves his dysfunctional relationship with his wealthy mother (Jessica Lange) in his wake.

REEL BUZZ: Wahlberg lost a boatload of weight for this part, but that doesn’t mean it’s Oscar worthy.

Short Take: With the dissolution of her marriage and the death of her mother, Cheryl Strayed (Reese Witherspoon) has lost all hope. After years of reckless, destructive behavior, she makes a rash decision. With absolutely no experience, driven only by sheer determination, Cheryl hikes more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, alone.

OPENS DECEMBER 25

REEL BUZZ:

Reese Witherspoon gets uncharacteristically dirty and is getting good reviews.

Foxcatcher Short Take:

Foxcatcher tells the story of Olympic Gold Medalwinning wrestler Mark Schultz Benedict Cumberbatch leads an all-star cast as Alan Turing (Channing in the biopic The Imitation Game. Tatum), who sees a way out from helped the Allies win WWII but whose the shadow of his more celebrated wrestling career and life were sadly cut short after brother Dave (Mark Ruffalo) and a life of the British government prosecuted him poverty when he is summoned by eccentric for homosexual acts (deemed illegal multi-millionaire John du Pont (Steve Carell) at that time). The film also stars Keira to move onto his estate and train for the 1988 Knightley, Mark Strong and Downtown Seoul Olympics. Desperate to gain the respect Abbey’s Allen Leech. of his disapproving mother, du Pont begins “coaching” a world-class athletic team and, in REEL BUZZ: Not your average biopic the process, lures Mark into dangerous habits, fare. Film festival buzz and early reviews breaks his confidence and drives him into a have been largely positive with a pretty self-destructive spiral. much unanimous consensus that it’s a performance driven vehicle led wonderfully by Benedict Cumberbatch.

REEL BUZZ: This is supposed to be one of the must-see movies of the year. It will play at the Fine Arts Theatre in Asheville.

26 December 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 18, No. 4

Chris Rock stars in and directs Top Five.

Rock, Adam Sandler, Rosario Dawson, Kevin Hart, Tracy Morgan, Cedric The Entertainer, J.B. Smoove, Sherri Shepherd, Anders Holm, Romany Malco, Leslie Jones, Michael Che, and Jay Pharoah.

REEL BUZZ: We don’t really know, but we’re

curious.

OPENS DECEMBER 19 Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb

Unbroken

Short Take: Directed and produced by Angelina Jolie, Unbroken is an epic drama that follows the incredible life of Olympian and war hero Louis “Louie” Zamperini (Jack O’Connell) who, along with two other crewmen, survived in a raft for 47 days after a near-fatal plane crash in WWII, only to be caught by the Japanese Navy and sent to a prisoner-ofwar camp. Based on Lauren Hillenbrand’s best-selling book.

REEL BUZZ: Get out another party dress, Angie. You’re going to the Oscars.

Short Take: It’s another adventure-filled Night at the Museum as Larry (Ben Stiller) spans the globe, uniting favorite and new characters while embarking on an epic quest to save the magic before it is gone forever.

REEL BUZZ: It’s going to be a huge box office success, if not a critical success and it’s probably just going to be fun. Jack O’Connell stars as the unbreakable Lou Zamperini.

Movies continued from page 25

film reviews

Show, just before the election. The satirical humor wholly lost on them, the Iranian authorities held Bahari in solitary confinement for 118 days. The arresting police officer, identified only as ‘Rosewater,’ interrogated and tortured Bahari during the course of his captivity. Stewart took a leave of absence last year from The Daily Show to make the film. I, like other Daily Show fans, missed Stewart during that time, but would say that if ever there was a Sabbatical put to good use, this was it. Stewart imbues the film with two key elements that you expect from him, journalistic nuance and humor. It’s also beautifully filmed. Maziar Bahari consulted on the film, as one would expect. I have not read Bahari’s memoir but would hazard a guess that having Stewart at the helm probably created a good balance. Gael Garcia Bernal plays Bahari. He’s likeable and sympathetic. Kim Bodnia plays ‘Rosewater.’ Interestingly, while the film makes no apologies for him or his actions, he is portrayed somewhat sympathetically, or at least he is not entirely demonized. This was a curious aspect which I found appealing. Both actors turn in fine performances and play well off of each other. While in captivity, Bahari talked to his late father and sister, both of whom had been arrested at various time in their life for political activities. These

Black Hole, and ____________ (fill in the time travel movie of your choice). The story unfolds in the not too distant future where a crop blight is turning the Earth into a vast Dust Bowl. Almost everyone is becoming a farmer to try and produce enough food for the world’s population. Matthew McConaughey stars as Cooper, a former astronaut now a farmer trying to survive in these Dust Bowl conditions. One day he and his young Astronauts Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, and daughter Murphy discover lines David Gyasi are trying to locate a new planet where Earth’s in the dust on the floor of their population can move to in Interstellar. home that spell out coordinates. These coordinates lead them to a they were totally captivated. Thanks to its secret underground NASA base headed up by Spielberg-like aura, the story has a lot of heart a Professor Brand (Michael Caine). Cooper and manipulates the emotions in a time-honis recruited to fly the last space ship to a ored way. The performances of everyone (exwormhole in space to look for other habitable cept Hathaway) are engaging and in the case of worlds. He is joined by Brand’s daughter Jessica Chastain, Matt Damon, and Matthew (Anne Hathaway), two other astronauts, and McConaughey, absolutely engrossing. Bottom an all purpose robot called TARS. line, I liked it while I was there but I won’t be There are three potential worlds to visit revisiting Interstellar anytime soon. but only enough fuel for two. The first visit to a planet covered in water ends badly. Thanks Rated PG-13 for intense perilous action and to a time-space anomaly, one hour there equals brief strong language. several years on Earth. In their short visit to Review by Chip Kaufmann the surface, many years have passed on Earth. Murph is now a grown woman (Jessica ChasRosewater 1/2 tain), and she works to solve Brand’s equation Short Take: Adapted from which will allow the Earth’s population to his memoir, Rosewater tells travel to a new home. Back in space, Cooper the story of Maziar Bahari, and Brand’s daughter argue over where to go a journalist covering the next. They wind up visiting a planet where an national election in Iran in earlier astronaut (Matt Damon) has sent out a 2009 who was arrested by the welcoming signal. Things there turn out to not Iranian government, charged be what they expected. with being a spy and held in By this time their ship has drifted too solitary confinement for 118 near a Black Hole. In order to save Hathaway, days. The film marks Jon McConaughey and the faithful robot TARS Stewart’s directional debut. send her in an escape pod to the third planet while they journey into the Black Hole. At REEL TAKE: Rosewater is based this point, the movie is only 2/3 over. What on the memoir “Then They Gael Garcia Bernal stars as Maziar Bahari, the happens next? You’ll just have to see the movie Came for Me: A Family’s Story journalist imprisoned in Iran for being a spy after to find out, but it’s at this point that the film of Love, Captivity, and Survival,” appearing on The Daily Show. really becomes interesting. written by Maziar Bahari. The From my perspective, Interstellar defifilm mark’s John Stewart’s direc‘vision’ sequences are nice enough, nitely has some issues. First and foremost it’s tional debut and it is a fitting vehicle for him. but to me seemed a little contrived. too long. This is primarily due to extended The host and creative force behind The Daily However, who am I to criticize this? scenes shot to be shown in an IMAX theater. I Show was closely tied to the source material. It’s Bahari’s story, and if that’s his story, am an advocate for a policy where the studios In 2009 journalist Maziar Bahari, a that’s his story. release a non-IMAX version of their blockTehran-born journalist, returned to Iran cover Rosewater may not be a cinematibusters much like their 2D and 3D versions the elections between President Mahmoud cally important film, but that doesn’t of a film. This would tighten up a movie by Ahmadinejad and challenger Mir-Hossein matter in my assessment of it. In the focusing on the characters and story rather Mousavi. Mousavi had quite a movement end, Stewart and Bahari succeed exactly than on visual effects. Secondly there is Anne behind him and it was expected to be a game where they need to. Rosewater is an imHathaway’s performance. She isn’t bad, but changing election. When Ahmadinejad’s portant and moving story, a worthwhile she seems uncomfortable and ill suited for the victory was declared hours before the polls effort and a crowd-pleaser. role. Finally there is the script’s tendency to closed, uprisings broke out. Bahari witnessed spell everything out for us in Twilight Zone or Rated R for language, including some and filmed the protests and shared the footage, crude references and violent content. Outer Limits like summations. a great personal risk, with the BBC. Shortly In the end, Interstellar is a movie that thereafter Bahari is arrested at his mother’s Review by Michelle Keenan should definitely be seen. I saw it with a nearly home and imprisoned for being a spy. Their Movies continued on page 28 full house of older people, like myself, and proof? An interview Bahari did with The Daily

ASHEVILLE FILM SOCIETY The Asheville Film Society will show the following films on Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. in Theater 6 at the Carolina Cinema on Hendersonville Road. Tuesday night screenings are free, but membership dues for the society are only $10. Membership gets you into any special members-only events and screenings. December 2:

Cardinal Richelieu (1935) The cunning Cardinal Richelieu must save King Louis XIII from treachery within his inner circle. Stars George Arliss, Maureen O’Sullivan and Edward Arnold. Directed by Rowland V. Lee. December 9: Life Begins at 8:30

(1942) A young woman lives in a cramped New York flat with her father Madden Thomas, a celebrated actor brought down by drink. Lame since a young age she feels trapped until she meets a young composer with big dreams. Stars Monty Wooley, Ida Lupino and Cornel Wilde. Directed by Irving Pichel. December 16: The Lemon Drop Kid

(1951) When the Lemon Drop Kid accidentally steers Moose Moran’s girl away from a winning bet, he is forced to come up with $10,000 to repay the angry gangster. Fortunately it’s Christmas, a time when people can be persuaded to part with money for the right cause. Stars Bob Hope, Marilyn Maxwell and Lloyd Nolan. Directed by Sidney Lanfield. December 23: Donovan’s Reef

(1963) ‘Guns’ Donovan prefers carousing with his pals Doc Dedham and ‘Boats’ Gilhooley, until Dedham’s high-society daughter Amelia shows up in their South Seas paradise. Stars John Wayne, Lee Marvin and Elizabeth Allen. Directed by John Ford. December 30:

Holiday Inn

(1942) At an inn which is only open on holidays, a crooner and a hoofer vie for the affections of a beautiful up-and-coming performer. Stars Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire and Marjorie Reynolds. Directed by Mark Sandrich. Carolina Cinemas, 1640 Hendersonville Rd. (828) 274-9500. For more information go to www.facebook.com/ashevillefilmsociety

Vol. 18, No. 4 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — December 2014 27

Movies continued from page 27

The Theory of Everything



Short Take: Adapted from the book by his first wife, The Theory of Everything tells the story of Stephen Hawking and Jane Wilde Hawking and their 30 years together.

REEL TAKE: Based on the book Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen by Stephen Hawking’s first wife Jane Wilde Hawking, The Theory of Everything is a romantic drama about their thirty challenging years together. The result is a very well made, nice, safe, pseudo bio pic. As one of my fellow reviewers said, “It’s perfectly fine.” The film starts in 1963. A twenty-one year old Stephen Hawking (Eddie Redmayne) is a doctoral student at Cambridge. A gangly, gawky science geek, he manages to attract the attentions of Jane Wilde (Felicity Jones), a lovely English rose studying medieval poetry. In spite of their vast differences and differences of opinion, sparks fly. Meanwhile we see symptomatic glimpses of things to come, Chip Kaufmann’s Pick: “The Grand Budapest Hotel”

film reviews

before he himself understands what’s happening. Just as he seems to be hitting his stride personally and academically, Hawking takes a fateful fall and subsequently learns that he has a motor neuron disorder (a form of ALS). He is told he’ll be dead within two years. Fifty one years later we all know he defied those odds, and while the degenerative disease ravaged and contorted his body, his beautiful mind was left unscathed, Many filmgoers, who have only seen Hawking as the crippled Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne star in The genius in the wheelchair with Theory of Everything, the challenging love story the American-sounding roof Jane and Stephen Hawking. botic voice, may be surprised his many scientific milestones. and touched to see the story of Hawking as a More than anything else The Theory of vibrant young Englishman. The film focuses Everything is a love story, and what a remarkmore on the days at Cambridge and the early able love story it is. And that’s what I found years of the disease and his life with Jane, but somewhat disappointing; in spite of such an runs through the course of their marriage and

December DVD Picks

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

Rather than offer up another Holiday themed movie for the December issue, I decided that it would be nice (and different) to offer up my favorite title of 2014 now that’s it available on DVD. Actually it’s been out for a little while now but it would be an ideal Christmas gift for some people and would make a suitable holiday viewing experience for others. The movie is The Grand Budapest Hotel and if you are already familiar with the quirky movies of Wes Anderson (Moonrise Kingdom, The Darjeeling Limited, The Royal Tennenbaums – all good DVD picks by the way) then you’ll have some idea of what to expect but be prepared for a few surprises. You should be advised right now that Grand Budapest is an old school sophisticated farce that harks back to the 1930s and the films of Ernst Lubitsch. Although it has some dramatic moments, it is not a glamorous all-star soap opera in the vein of Grand Hotel which the title led many people to believe. Set in a grand European hotel in a fictional European country, the story concerns the adventures (and misadventures) of an eccentric hotel concierge (Ralph Fiennes) and his lobby boy-in-training (Tony Revolori in a revelatory performance) in the period between the two World Wars. The limited space I have here cannot begin to do justice to this unique film

which has an incredible blend of characters, a plot that twists and turns, and the most opulent settings & costumes for what is a low budget movie by today’s standards. The powerhouse cast (F. Murray Abraham, Tilda Swinton, Adrien Brody, Harvey Keitel, Jeff Goldblum to name a few) all worked for next to nothing to keep costs down and because they wanted to be in this film. So check out (and into) The Grand Budapest Hotel and be whisked back to a different time not only of place but of moviemaking itself. Just don’t expect overheated drama in the style of Grand Hotel and you should have a memorable viewing experience.

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

Being the humbug that I am right now, devoid of any holiday spirit at present and disgusted with the pre-Thanksgiving Christmas Trees and Pre-Black Friday madness and commercialization of an otherwise lovely time of year, we’re going to have to pull out the heavy artillery this year. Scrooged, How The Grinch

28 December 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 18, No. 4

Michelle Keenan’s Pick: “It’s a Wonderful Life” Stole Christmas (the perennial Christmas special, not the Ron Howard film), and the biggie, the film that gets me every time I watch it, It’s a Wonderful Life. For those that have been living in a cave for the last 68 years, It’s a Wonderful a Life is the story of George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart). George is the salt of the earth and a pillar in his community. He gives up his boyhood dreams to run the family’s Savings and Loan. He marries his childhood sweetheart Mary (Donna Reed) and they have a family. When the town villain, and George’s personal arch nemesis, Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore) seizes the opportunity to put the Bailey family out of business once and for all, there’s a run on the bank and George thinks everyone would be better off if he were dead. It’s at that point that he gets to see what the world would be like had he never been born thanks to Clarence (Henry Travers) a 2nd class angel. Cliché though it may be to some, just thinking about It’s a Wonderful Life makes my heart warm and my eyes well. The movie may be almost 70 years old, but the story is timeless. While there are plenty of corny moments and quotable/spoofable lines (“Zuzu’s Petals!” is such a favorite, I even have cat named Zuzu), there is also something very universal and lovely about it. The casting is perfect. It was said to have been Jimmy Stewart’s favorite film of his career. After you revisit it, or see it for the first time, you will never hear a bell ring the same way again.

amazing story, the film doesn’t engage its audience emotionally or move us as much as one would expect. Director James Marsh succeeds in executing a beautifully made film but a very safe film with little edge and perhaps too much British stiff upper lip. The exception to this is the cinematography by Benoit Delhomme. In the moments of blossoming love and Hawking’s cosmological discoveries, Delhomme’s cinematography imbues the film with movie magic. Redmayne delivers an elegant performance in what had to be a daunting and challenging task. The result is a performance that plays more to Hawking’s humanity, his humor and his brilliant mind, rather than being too focused on the physicality as to seem contrived or gimmicky. For this, all are to be commended. And for this his performance is Oscar bait. For me however, the film belongs to Felicity Jones who, yes, has an easier time of it, not having to portray a figure as familiar as Hawking, but who has to show us the woman behind the genius for all those years (a task which in real life must have been as daunting for her as the disease was to him). In the end I drew the same conclusion that I did with Interstellar; Love – unscientific, immeasurable, and transcendent of time – is the greatest force in the universe. The Theory of Everything is simply love. Rated PG-13 for some thematic elements and suggestive material. Review by Michelle Keenan

Theatre Directory Asheville Pizza & Brewing Company Movieline (828) 254-1281 www.ashevillepizza.com

Beaucatcher Cinemas (Asheville) Movieline (828) 298-1234

Biltmore Grande

1-800-FANDANGO #4010 www.REGmovies.com

Carmike 10 (Asheville)

Movieline (828) 298-4452 www.carmike.com

Carolina Cinemas

(828) 274-9500 www.carolinacinemas.com

The Falls Theatre (Brevard) Movieline (828) 883-2200

Fine Arts Theatre (Asheville) Movieline (828) 232-1536 www.fineartstheatre.com

Flat Rock Theatre (Flat Rock) Movieline (828) 697-2463 www.flatrockcinema.com

Four Seasons (Hendersonville) Movieline (828) 693-8989

The Strand (Waynesville)

(828) 283-0079, www.38main.com

artful living

Resolve to Revolt!

In physics, “revolution” is about cycles and movement. At the end of each year, there is great focus on New Year’s Resolutions. I’ve written in the past about my belief that every day is when we can resolve to do certain things (like FINALLY watch all of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine). In addition, each day can also be a path to cultivating a personal, peaceful revolution, where we build up our hearts. Why wait until January 1st to firmly reject apathy and donuts and to reclaim love and exercise programs when we can revolutionize our hearts all the time through something like charitable giving?

Many of my goals have been culled from YEARS of year-end lists. Items that appeared over and over (and over) again turned out to be the ones that apparently just needed to be a part of daily living. Exercise. Eat Better. Communicate More. Communicate Less. Communicate Effectively. And Give More. I can’t even convey here the depth and duration of the impact that generosity by others has had in my life. Give. I’m surrounded by folks who put this topic very high on the list, from both a business perspective, as well as simply a concept for living. As an artist and writer, I’ve written about how artists are uniquely positioned to give of themselves and their talents

Mountain Area Information Network

Providing Affordable Internet to the Local Community

In the tradition of the rural cooperatives that helped spread the reach of electricity in the 1930s, Mountain Area Information Network (MAIN) is one of the engines behind the modern expansion of Internet accessibility in western North Carolina. As a non-profit Internet Service Provider working with many local partners, MAIN provides reliable, low-cost Internet service in WNC. MAIN owes its growth to strong support from the community, where thousands of people have eagerly embraced the opportunity to spend their Internet access dollars with a locally controlled and accountable organization. MAIN is able to provide free or reduced-cost web hosting services

to businesses and non-profit organizations throughout our service area. As part of our mission to extend Internet access beyond the middle-class and wealthy, we also offer reduced-fee dial-up accounts to people in need of such help. You can visit our website at main.nc.us to discover how the team at MAIN works to support its local community.

Mountain Area Information Network 34 Wall Street, Suite 407 Asheville, NC 28801 (866) 962-6246 ~ (828) 255-0182 main.nc.us

A Charlie Brown Christmas BENEFIT PERFORMANCE

Performance to benefit Hall Fletcher Elementary Outdoor Learning Center

As part of their ongoing fundraising efforts to bring an outdoor learning center to Hall Fletcher Elementary, Charlotte Street Computers is sponsoring a private performance of A Charlie Brown Christmas at The Asheville Community Theatre on December 11 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 each and can be purchased at Charlotte Street Computers, or by sending an email to tickets@charlottestreetcomputers.com. 100% of the money raised will benefit this community project. Charlotte Street Computers provides upgrades, networking, troubleshooting, and

By JenniFeR

THE ART OF GIVING

In the design field, “resolution” has everything to do with clarity.

gReg VineyaRD

in order to support our local charities. And the premise is pretty simple: create twelve extra pieces of whatever it is one makes, and give them away during the year. We’re artists – we all make stuff that some one or some agency can use for their cause. Of course, everyone knows those one or two people who loudly proclaim how they hate being asked to help out. But that rare attitude is overwhelmed by the giving energy of thousands of others who resolve to have a more compassionate response. An artist may or may not have funds available for charity depending on where they are in their business-building, but many do have inventory; if it’s designated as part of a personal revolution to earmark certain works for donation, it’s easy and simple to just move forward with that plan. I’m not advocating working for free, and some Asks can’t be answered. I just focus on what I can do. I have Extra Art, and it can be parted-with. Another option for many who may not have the resource of inventory is the giving of Time. Volunteerism is alive and well in our region. If you look at the United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County list (www. unitedwayabc.org), think not only of all the charitable causes that are being helped, but also consider how many human beings are physically out there, doing things for others. What’s the reward for giving? In a sense, NOTHING. The reward for giving is giving. What are the reasons? Many give because they are simply giving back or paying it forward. And of course there are residual effects to giving. Reminiscent of the revolutionizing personal lesson of The Grinch, one’s heart gets bigger (and we don’t have to steal everything first). Sometimes folks shy away from committing to a giving plan because they’re in a spot where they can only give intermittently. No problem! Give a little, give a lot, give when possible, give every month, give in a planned way, give on the spur of the moment… every plan works.

Revolution Heart Series, 2014, illustration by Greg Vineyard

So, each of us can have a mini-revolution, full of resolve, and we all get that lovely internal payoff of a bigger heart. And giving is an endless energy source – think of “volt” in “revolt”: we’re recharging! My intention here is my usual sharing, caring, and inspiring, one artist to another. I urge us all to move forward and Resolve to Revolt! And have you noticed that both “Resolve” and “Revolt” have the letters of the word “LOVE” in them? I’m wishing you the best in this giving season, and throughout the coming year. Greg Vineyard is a marketing professional, and an artist and writer living in Asheville, NC. ZaPOW Gallery carries his illustrations, prints and cards, www.zapow.com. www.gregvineyardillustration.com

MayeR

repairs for both Macs and PCs. The company also provides daily computer classes, one-onone tutoring, on-site service, and carries the full line of Apple computers. Charlotte Street Computers is located at 252 Charlotte Street in Asheville. For more information, please call (828) 225-6600 or visit www.charlottestreetcomputers.com.

Plenty of Parking!

Mon-Sat 10-6 Sun 11-4

712-B Merrimon Ave

• Asheville, NC • (828) 285-0515 .AB. • S’ F • S 

IF YOU GO

A Charlie Brown Christmas benefit performance, December 11 at 7:30 p.m. Asheville Community Theatre, 35 E. Walnut St., Asheville. Call (828) 2541320, or visit www.ashevilletheatre.org

Let Asheville Brewers show you how aﬀordable, enjoyable and delicious homebrewing can be!

pg. 36

Vol. 18, No. 4 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — December 2014 29

WILD ABOUT

Massie Furniture Company 45 N. Main Street, Waynesville 456-3311 • 452-5792 • M-Sat 8:30am - 5:30pm

Let Us Help With Any of Your Gift Needs

R T

The Waynesville Gallery Association is excited to present the Winter Edition of Art After Dark, which takes place Friday, December 5. Art After Dark transforms Downtown Waynesville into an exquisite visual, culinary and performing arts center. With the holidays soon to come, it is a perfect night to explore Waynesville’s galleries, and gift-shops, and take in the sights of our beautifully decorated streets. Festive Art After Dark flags denote participating galleries, such as Haywood County Arts Council’s Gallery 86, Burr Studios, Earthworks, Jeweler’s Workbench, Twigs and Leaves Gal-

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30 December 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 18, No. 4

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WAYNESVILLE

Art After Dark

pg. 30

By Jeannie

ShuCKSTeS

lery, TPennington Art Gallery, Grace Cathey Sculpture Garden and Gallery, Art on Depot, Cedar Hill Studios, The Mahogany House, and the Village Framer. Gallery 86 is featuring local artists in the annual It’s a Small, Small Work exhibit. This show is Santa by Margaret Roberts, the perfect shopping part of the Small Works venue for affordable exhibit at Gallery 86. holiday gifts. The exhibit runs through December 27, 2014. The Gallery will be open late on December 5 and December 13. Gallery 86 is located at 86 N. Main in Waynesville. Visit them online at www. haywoodarts.org It is time to celebrate the holiday season and the final Art After Dark for this year with Twigs and Leaves Gallery Friday evening, December 5, 6-9 p.m. and be inspired with the perfect gift giving ideas. With the help of our torn watercolor paper artist Margaret Roberts, guests will be invited to make a personalized Christmas card to be given to someone who might not receive one otherwise. Be sure to pick up a thank-you treat from our in-house elves, Nash and Harper. Friday evening, as you stroll through the gallery’s 145+ primarily regional artists, enjoy holiday, piano music by Waynesville’s Dr. Bill Stecher and delight in the seasonal hors d’eurves. Return on Saturday at 1 p.m. for a concert performance by students of Carol Gore. Twigs and Leaves Gallery is located at 98 North Main Street in Waynesville. They are open Monday through Saturday 10-5:30 and Sunday 1-4. For more details call (828) 456-1940, or visit www.twigsandleaves. com. Julie Kinkade will be hanging out at Earthworks on Friday, December 5 from 6-9 p.m., and the next day, Saturday, December 6 from 12-4 p.m. On Saturday, Julie will give a live demonstration, a great activity for Works by Julie children and adults alike! Kinkade are Cedar Hill Studio feaon display at tures Wendy Bowen for Art Earthworks. after Dark. Wendy’s fabulous award winning quilts grace the walls of discerning collectors. This is your chance to meet the artist and watch her create. Enjoy the refreshments and Lynn Heinricks on the keyboard. We look forward to a wonderful evening! Burr Studio is hosting an opening reception for painter, Betina Morgan. Stop by to view her beautiful continued on page 31

WILD ABOUT

R T

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WAYNESVILLE

Fine Artist Teresa Pennington

Teresa Pennington has forged a formidable reputation working in colored pencil.

DenniS Ray

in Western North Carolina. She was commissioned by the Biltmore Estate and completed four series of drawings Renowned for her luminous capturing the grandeur of the house and color and sensitive line, Penninggardens. ton’s mastery of the colored pencil Other scenes she has captured has made her a household name include Grandfather Mountain, Cold Mountain, and Mabry Mill, one of the most photographed features on the Blue Ridge Parkway (mile marker 176). She records the large and small, with a tender regard for the details of chickadees and hummingbirds, as well as orchids and fruit. When Teresa began developing her artwork she tried watercolor and acrylic but when she discovered colored pencil she knew she Peaks of Otter, drawing by Teresa Pennington had found her true call-

‘Art After Dark’ cont’d. from pg. 30

paintings in oil and acrylic, and warm up with refreshments. Brandon Gunter, a singer, songwriter and recording artist out of Nashville, TN will be playing guitar and singing at The Mahogany House Gallery. Several artists will be doing demonstrations including encaustic, watercolor, oil painting, and assemblage. The Village Framer will be featuring local photographer, John

You need to know if your advertising is paying off. When it came to publicizing our meet the artist tours, concerts, or storytelling in the park, the overwhelming response was “We read about it in Rapid River Magazine.” Thank you for supporting the arts and entertainment community. ~ Ruth Planey

pg. 30

Kimball. He is a photographer from Balsam, NC and Ridgeway, Ontario Canada. His main loves are landscapes and abandoned farm buildings. John’s work integrates the digital age, using Photoshop and Lightroom has opened a whole new world within his work.

St Nicholas 2011 – Grandfather Mountain by Teresa Pennington

ing. Completely self taught she has developed a technique using Prismacolor pencils that is uniquely her own. Often spending 3 or 4 months on one piece, she layers the wax based colored pencil from light to dark, finishing each section as she goes. Her husband Robert then prints limited edition giclees on canvas and paper. Teresa and her gallery manager then design meticulous framing for each piece. Pennington will celebrate 30 years in business in 2015 and will create an anniversary series. Interestingly enough, it is also the anniversary of the national park system. That is the only hint we will give you as to the subject matter of the series.

IF YOU Call Twigs & Leaves Gallery GO at (828) 456-1940, or visit the

“Jewel Tones” A colored pencil drawing by Teresa Pennington. Available in Prints, Christmas Cards and the 2014 Ornament.

TPennington Art Gallery

Waynesville Gallery Association at www.waynesvillegalleryassociation.com for additional information.

15 North Main Street Waynesville, NC 28786

pg. 30

828-452-9284 www.tpennington.com

Give the Gi  Art

A Gallery Where Art Dances with Nature pg. 30

98 N. Main St., Waynesville, NC • (828) 456-1940 • www.twigsandleaves.com

Vol. 18, No. 4 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — December 2014 31

CHERYL KEEFER

PLEIN AIR ~ LANDSCAPES ~ CITYSCAPES

Riverview Station Hosts Holiday Market

On Friday, December 5 from 4 to 8 p.m., Riverview Station will host its very first Holiday Market.

The block-long structure is located at 191 Lyman Street in the River Arts District (RAD). Erected in 1902 as the Hans Rees Tannery, the building served many purposes before evolving into one of the original properties of Asheville’s River Arts District in 1996.

Caitlin Morehouse

One-stop-shopping in Asheville’s River Arts District.

“View from Patton Mountain, En Plein Air“

Wedge Studios 129 Roberts Street River Arts District By appt.

Asheville Gallery of Art 16 College Street . 18 Downtown 5

Seven Sisters Gallery Black Mountain

pg. 41

Photo: Ray Matta

828-450-1104 • www.Cher ylKeefer.com

RG RJ

SOLI DEO GLORIA STUDIO/GRACE C BOMER FINE ART

“The Scepter Shall Not Depart from Judah Until Shiloh Comes” RB

Christ-Centered Christmas Gifts

Giclee Prints & Original Paintings

•

www.gracecarolbomer.com

140 D Roberts St. in Asheville’s River Arts District

More information on the River Arts District is available by calling (828) 280-7709, or visit www.riverartsdistrict.com.

32 December 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 18, No. 4

Today it is home to Jonas Gerard at Riverview Station and more than 60 fine art and craft studios, several artists’ co-ops and is the closest RAD building to Biltmore Village. The Holiday Market features more than twenty open studios. Additionally, there will be a food truck on premises, a roving Santa Claus, and a bountiful door prize on display at Jonas GeThe Village Potters join more than rard. Within each 40 other artists who will open their open studio, artists studios and galleries for the Holiday and craftspeople Market on Friday, December 5. entice visitors with their creations. One such participant is artist Pat Samuels. In studio 218, Mrs. Samuels designs mixed media collages and will have painted paper ornaments made especially for the Holiday Market. Likewise, Sheri Howe will be open in studio 231 with her mixed media figurative work. Mrs. Howe quips, “My studio will be full of artful wonderment: paintings, drawings, block prints, handmade books, masks, cards, sculpture and more!” Artful objects are indeed abundant at Riverview Station. That is why Jessica Hall, Holiday Market creator and owner of Bluebird Designs in studio 256, was inspired. Says Ms. Hall, “There has been so much progress in our building, why not invite people to come explore? This event will allow us to welcome visitors during the holiday season, and to educate shoppers about Riverview Station. “We have a great mix of people: from well-established painters (like Jonas Gerard), to long established galleries like 310 ART with 22 local artists and artisans exhibiting, to artist co-ops (The Village Potters and Clay Five Ways) to up-and-coming talents. It’s truly ‘onestop-shopping’ in the River Arts District.” One such ambitious studio dweller is ceramic artist Maggie Minor in studio 116. Though relatively new to the medium, Ms. Minor’s tactile dinnerware was chosen to be included in the prestigious Telfair Art Fair in Savannah, GA this November. She agrees that Riverview Station’s friendly environment and eclectic mix of artists make it perfect for a festive shopping experience.

IF YOU On Friday, December 5, come out to Riverview GO Station in Asheville’s River Arts Disctrict for creative

holiday fun! For more information visit www. riverviewstation.com.

artful living

Between Before and After

“The moment between before and after is called Truth or Buddha’s world. We don’t know what it is but we are there. Our life is completely embraced by this… It is the original nature of the self.” ~ Dainin Katagiri

See if you can feel what it means to be in the moment between before and after. Just here. Surrender the compulsive need to get to the next moment or to hold on to the last moment. See if in your meditation you can realize the felt sense of the space between before and after. See how any thought activity that arises is about either the before or the after of your life, carried by the momentum of what you have been training for all your life – to be this person you know as yourself, this person known as “me,” carrying the issues, beliefs, concerns and behaviors, both positive and problematic – out of the before and into the after – all your desires, anxieties, ambitions. See how this self-absorbed story propels you out of the past and into the future. Yet, in between – in the space between before and after – in the space Katagiri is calling Buddha’s world. There is no story. There is just this moment as it is. This is pure awareness receiving Life, being Life. This is the observing mind – the curious, compassionate, silent mind that absorbs and witnesses the present moment. Along with the external world of the present moment, the observing mind is also capable of “noticing” our internal world that includes storylines of thought and emotion that make up our egoic mind, both

its healthy and neurotic aspects. With the observing mind we can notice when the mind takes off on some tangent about the before or after that is not just here-in-the-moment. We can see a story in our heads of the before and after, and if it takes over the attention of the mind, the moment fades from vivid presence to flattened background. But in the moment between, if we hold onto the awareness that is completely here, we can see the story as the not-real passing through the real. We can also notice how if we don’t stay vividly with the here-and-now, the story pulls us out of the here-and-now. Noticing this, we can hold to the witnessing mind as our central mental experience and the vividness of the present moment is regained, and the story passes on, leaving awareness in presence: “The original nature of the self.” To deepen our connection to the hereand-now, our observing mind must notice when we get off into some track in our mind: “Oh, I’m off into…” some before or after. Or it may

BiLL WaLZ

be that we’re in the moment, but we’re not happy with the moment: “There’s my complaining mind.” We’re in some negative judgment about the present moment. Some element of what’s going on with the moment is not OK with us – which is, of course, conditioning from the past about things not being OK, intruding into the present. Just notice this. This is not some analysis of what is happening or why it is happening; rather, there’s just the noticing of the diversion into issues of past or future or some reactive judgmental emotional state. While our very blatant reactive emotional states are quite obvious by their disruptive effect, what can be extremely helpful is to notice how we almost constantly have subtle, on-going stories, on-going little complaints, on-going little anxieties, on-going little irritations and they all carry a low-intensity emotional charge. These subtle stories are our personality and its traits. When we understand meditation as the process of training the mind (as Tibetans do), we can realize that the mind has been being trained all our life, it’s just that it has been being trained (meditating) in being unstable, in wanting to chase after various emotions and to figure

out schemes and ways to make our life be the way we want it to be, and to complain when it isn’t being the way we want it to be. These stories of low-level unhappiness and insecurity color everything we experience and when they are triggered into explosions of troublesome emotion and behavior, we don’t know how it happens. So we come to the meditation that Buddhism teaches, a kind of meditation that is therapeutic and liberating. It is, as the Dalai Lama calls it, training in “virtuous’ mental traits. This meditation is called “shamatha,” peaceful abiding, and “Vipassana,” wisdom or insight, and ultimately, “samadhi,” which is the dropping away of dualistic experience into a sense of oneness with the moment, with our sense of self not in this body and mind or our story in time, but rather in the moment itself. These are the states of mind we want to be training with our formal meditation. In this, the non-verbal noticing of mind activity is very helpful in our realizing we are not peacefully abiding. We are not manifesting wisdom or insight; rather, we’re manifesting judgment, or we’re manifesting irritability, or any number of problematic mind-states we’ve continued on page 36

Should We Be Afraid of Infectious Diseases?

Ebola is only the latest infectious disease to make its appearance in the news.

Previously there was SARS, MERS, swine flu, and bird flu. All of these viral diseases occurred in third world settings and caused considerable panic until each in its turn dwindled away and disappeared from the world stage. Why were heath officials worried about these illnesses initially? Why has each one proved to be of concern for only a short time? Should we still be concerned about a world pandemic? The answers to these questions are in the basic formula for catching an infectious disease: the infectious agent, the host, and the environment. To catch and continue to propagate an infectious disease, all three must allow for the passing of the disease from one person to another. The infectious agent, the bug, must be virulent (make the patient very sick), must be hard to kill, and must be easily passed from one person to another. The host, the human who is to catch the bug, must be very susceptible and in close contact with the means (air, fluids, body contact, vectors) by which the bug is passed. The host should also have poor nutrition and a weakened immune system, to pass the bug more easily.

The environment must allow for close contact with the means for spread. Overcrowding – close, continual contact – and unsanitary conditions will facilitate the spreading of the bug. And the absence of adequate health care facilities will hinder the care of patients thus infected. The infectious agent, the ebola virus, is virulent and it is hard to kill. However, it is hard to catch – as evident by the number of people in the immediate casual vicinity of the various people in the US who have had ebola, none of whom have caught the infection. The host must be in close, continual contact with the bodily fluids of someone who is actively shedding the virus (has a fever, which indicates that the virus is multiplying in the person). In the US culture, the only people doing so with sick patients (and got infected) were those medically caring for an infected patient. People in casual contact were not infected. The environment in the US is not generally overcrowded. Basic sanitary conditions are prevalent everywhere – clean public surfaces, water, sewage care, air filtration, food preparation. And most health care facilities can do basic isolation and several centers are prepared to do highly intensive isolation and supportive care with excellent methods to transport patients to these facilities.

MaX haMMonDS, MD

Then why the high mortality (50-70%) in African countries and such low mortality (one in eight so far) in the US? Although ebola is actually hard to catch, the environment in Africa (fear of health care, close contact, poor sanitation, inadequate health care facilities, and the culture of caring for the dead) makes the passing of the infection extremely likely. In the US, the environment – no overcrowding, wide-spread basic sanitation, and excellent health care – very effectively prevents the spread of the disease among the general population. Yes, an epidemic anywhere in the world is cause for concern, until we understand the nature of the infection – it’s cause, how it is spread, weapons to use against it. Yes, ebola – if you catch it – makes people very sick. But no, the environment is not right for it to spread in the US – just as it wasn’t for those other diseases. But if we ever become complacent about our excellent public health policies or about taking care of our own body’s immune system and its ability to fight off an infectious disease . . .

Vol. 18, No. 4 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — December 2014 33

Bill Bares and Michael Jefry Stevens, jazz. $12. 7:30 p.m. at the White Horse, 105c Montreat Road, Black Mountain. Call (828) 669-0816 for details, or visit www.whitehorseblackmountain.com

Gallery Opening

The Odyssey Cooperative Art Gallery opens a new show celebrating the ceramic art of Kat McIver, Margaret Klieber, and twenty-five other gallery members. 238 Clingman Ave., Asheville’s River Arts District.

Tuesday, December 2

Free Night of Short Films

Join the founders of the Asheville Cinema Festival, Tom and Sandi Anton, for a free night of short films. The WNC Film Society is hosting an hour

How to place an event/ classified listing with Rapid River Art Magazine Any “free” event open to the public can be listed at no charge up to 30 words. For all other events there is a $14.95 charge up to 35 words and 12 cents for each additional word. 65 word limit per event. Sponsored listings (shown in boxes) can be purchased for $18 per column inch. Deadline is the 19th of each month. Payment must be made prior to printing. Email Beth Gossett at: ads@rapidrivermagazine.com Or mail to: 85 N. Main St, Canton, NC 28716. Call (828) 646-0071 to place ad over the phone. – Disclaimer – Due to the overwhelming number of local event submissions we get for our “What to Do Guide” each month, we can not accept entries that do not specifically follow our publication’s format. Non-paid event listings must be 30 words or less, and both paid and non-paid listings must provide information in the following format: date of event, title, description and time, cost, location, and your contact info. Any entries not following this format will not be considered for publication.

3 p.m. Free to the public.

Monday, December 1

Tuesday, December 2

Movies at Pack Library

“Take Two” Jazz Series

Kat Williams, along with guitarist and vocalist “Lyric” (Leeda Jones), Cantaria, and The Gay Men’s Chorus of Asheville, perform a special concert for WNCAP. This year’s theme, A Celebration of Lives, challenges us to recommit to the fight against AIDS. 7-9 p.m. at the Renaissance Hotel, downtown Asheville. Call (828) 2527489 or visit www.wncap.org.

Tom and Sandi Anton

of enjoyable, comical and thoughtprovoking, family-friendly short films. 7 p.m. at Grace Center, 495 Cardinal Road in Mills River, off Highway 280, just past the Asheville Airport. For more information, call (828) 885-5354 or visit www.wncfilmsociety.com

Thursday, December 4 – It’s a Wonderful Life Thursday, December 11 – Four Christmases Thursday, December 18 – The Polar Express Pack Memorial Library 67 Haywood Street, Asheville (828) 250–4700

Friday, December 5

Jeff Thompson CD Release

Thursday, December 4

Walk of Shame Comedy Tour

Live standup comedy show featuring four hilarious women: Lisa Curry, MTV’s Guy Code/Girl Code; Dana Moon and Becky Robinson, Oxygen’s Happy Hour; and Jessica Michelle Singleton. Walk of Shame is a docuseries that follows the women as they pull pranks and performing live across America. Be part of an epic, hilarious adventure! Doors open at 7 p.m. Show at 8 p.m. $10. The Altamont Theatre, 18 Church St., Asheville. (828) 2707747 or visit www.myAltamont.com

Friday, December 5

Opera Talks

Asheville Lyric Opera Director, David Craig Starkey, and a cast of industry professionals, guide you through their operatic world. 3 p.m. at UNC Asheville’s Reuter Center. Free and open to the public. Call (828) 251-6140 or visit www.olliasheville.com.

Friday, December 5

Winter’s Tune

Music to Warm an Appalachian Night. Special concert hosted by the Liston B. Ramsey Center in Broyhill Chapel on the campus of Mars Hill University. Features Roger Howell, Bobby Hicks, Whitewater Bluegrass, Jerry Sutton, Laura Boosinger, Kathryn Parham Brickey, Rhiannon Ramsey, and others. Call Hannah (828) 689-1571 to reserve your space. $15 adv.; $18 dos. Details at www.mhu.edu/ramsey-center

Friday, December 5

The Power of Place

what to do guide

Monday, December 1

World AIDS Day

Works by Everett Schmidt. Opening reception 5-8 p.m. The exhibit runs from December 1-31, 2014. The Asheville Gallery of Art, 16 College Street in downtown Asheville. The gallery will be closed from 1:30 p.m. December 24, through December 25. For more information, call (828) 251-5796 or visit www.ashevillegallery-of-art.com

Celebration for So Far, So Strange. heartfelt-poetry, philosophical introspection, and irresistible grooves. 8:30 p.m. $12 adv.; $15 door. ISIS Restaurant and Music Hall, 743 Haywood Rd., Asheville. Call (828) 575-2737, or visit www.isisasheville.com

December 5 & 6, 12 & 13

31st Festival of Lights and Luminaire’s

Thousands of white The Hopberry lights adorn the buildings in the historic town of Dillsboro, NC. Shops will stay open late, providing free refreshments and entertainment. Shop here for Christmas trees, greenery, wreaths, arts and crafts, unique gifts, clothing, gourmet foods and wine. Meet Santa and Mrs. Claus in Town Hall. A unique holiday shopping experience. Dillsboro is located at the intersection of US Hwys. 19/74 and 441. For more details call 1-800-962-1911 or visit www.mountainlovers.com.

Friday, December 6

Deja Vu: A Tribute to Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. CSNY Tribute Group, John Keane, Dodd Ferrelle, Rachel O’Neal, Tom Ryan, and Deane Quinter perform at 8 p.m. $20 adv.; $25 dos. The Altamont Theatre, 18 Church St., Asheville. For details call (828) 270-7747 or visit www.myAltamont.com

Saturday, December 6

Sixth Annual Asheville Bookfest

Meet authors, live music, readings, book sales and “how to publish” presentations. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Haywood Park Hotel Atrium.

™

Saturday, December 6

She-Pow Opening Reception

ZaPow artists have created a body of work inspired by heroines, women of strength, villainess and goddesses from fiction, fantasy, myth and history. 7-9 p.m. Come celebrate this impressive showing of female strength created by artists of all genders. Free beer, live music, meet the artists. ZaPow, 21 Battery Park Ave., downtown Asheville. (828) 575-2024, www.zapow.com

Saturday, December 6

Crimson Laurel Gallery

Theatre, 18 Church St., Asheville. Call (828) 270-7747 or visit www.myAltamont.com

December 12-14

Cool Craft Holiday Market

Whimsical Art for the Young at Heart. Marcy Jackson will sell her fantastical art prints, greeting cards, totes and onesies at HandMade in America’s annual craft market. 125 S. Lexington Ave., Asheville. Friday, December 12, 5-8 p.m.; Saturday, December 13, 10 a.m-6 p.m; Sunday, December 14, 12-4 p.m.

Saturday December 13

Three shows: “Woodfired and Functional,” by Plate by featured artist Matt Ron Meyers Schiemann; “One of a Kind” by ceramic artist Ron Meyers; and functional “Soda Works” by ceramicist Carolanne Currier. Work from the exhibition can be seen and purchased online beginning Friday, December 5 at midnight. Crimson Laurel Gallery, Bakersville, NC, 28705. Call (828) 688-3599 or visit www. crimsonlaurelgallery.com

Food For Thought

Saturday, December 6 and Saturday, December 13

Saturday, December 13

The Guild Artists’ Holiday Sale

Visit the Odyssey Cooperative Art Gallery during the River Arts District’s Second Saturday Event. Demonstrations, refreshments, music, and a showcase of ceramic arts. 238 Clingman Ave., Asheville’s River Arts District.

Members of the Southern Highland Craft Guild will be on hand in the center’s auditorium on these two Saturdays to sell select work 10-50% off retail. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at The Folk Art Center, Milepost 382 on the Blue Ridge Parkway in east Asheville. Call (828) 298-7928 or visit www.craftguild.org.

Youth Poetry Slam Against Hunger, a benefit for Manna. The most thought provoking event of the holiday season. Come hear Asheville’s brightest youth poets address hunger and other community issues with originality and passion. Please bring food donations. 7 pm. $15, $10 students/teachers. Purchase tickets on eventbrite.com. Rainbow Community Center, 60 State St., Asheville. Presented by Soulspeak Asheville. Email Mel Kelley, soulspeakavl@gmail.com, for details.

Fine Art Demonstrations

Sunday, December 14

A Classical Christmas

Monday, December 8

Holiday Concert

The Reuter Center Singers directed by Chuck Taft. Classical, popular, show tunes and other favorites. 7 p.m. at UNCA’s Reuter Center. Free and open to the public. Call (828) 251-6140 or visit www.olliasheville.com.

Friday, December 12

Sip and Shop

Save 10% on all regular priced, American made crafts and up to 40% on sale items. Warm apple cider and wine will be provided. 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. at Grovewood Gallery, 111 Grovewood Road, Asheville. Call (828) 253-7651 or visit www.grovewood.com.

Friday, December 12

The Invisible III with Steelism

Instrumental Fusion. 10 p.m. $7 adv.; $10 dos. The Altamont

Concert by the Asheville Symphony Orchestra. 3 p.m. at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium. Tickets start at $22 for adults and $11 for youth, and are available through the ASO office or the U.S. Cellular Center ticket office. For more information go to

www.ashevillesymphony.org or call (828) 254-7046. Sunday, December 14

Emily Dickinson Unplugged

Actress Carol Kessler presents her riveting Chautauqua performance, Emily Dickinson Unplugged. This performance is a benefit for Pan Harmonia. Suggested donation is $20, but no one turned away for lack of funds. 3 p.m. at Cathedral of All Souls in Biltmore Village. Wine reception to follow in the Owen Library. Please RSVP for the wine reception by email to carol@panharmonia.org.

DECEMBER EVENTS ~ ANNOUNCEMENTS ~ OPENINGS ~ SALES 34 December 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 18, No. 4

December 17-28

Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol

what to do guide

Best in Show

™

by Phil Juliano

Wednesday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. Two performances on Saturday, December 27 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Children First Benefit, Saturday, December 27 at 2 p.m. Tickets: $15$28. Student tickets are $10 anytime! Call (828) 239-0263 or visit www.ncstage.org. North Carolina Stage Company, 15 Stage Lane in downtown Asheville.

Live Dinner Music at The Green Room Café Every Friday & Saturday from 6-8 p.m.

Thursday, December 18

A Blue Ridge Christmas

Michael Reno Harrell and Sheila Kay Adams return with their sell-out show, updated with fresh, homespun stories of Christmas in The South alongside original as well as traditional music. $18. The Strand, 38 N. Main Street, downtown Waynesville. (828) 283-0079, www.38main.com.

Callie & Cats

by Amy Downs

Hendersonville’s premier live dinner music venue, The Green Room Café, specializes in artisan crafted scrumptious food made fresh from local ingredients. The menu features signature dinner entrees, gourmet sandwiches, soups and salads, breakfast, and baked treats. The café offers beer & wine, Fair Trade, locally roasted, primo espresso and coffees, and an assortment of loose-leaf teas. The Green Room Café 536 North Main, Hendersonville (828) 692-6335 www.thegreenroomcafe.biz

Wednesday, December 31

The Larry Keel Experience with Jeff Sipe

Plus Jeremy Garrett & Travis Book (the Infamous Stringdusters), Steve “Big Daddy” McMurry (Acoustic Syndicate), Mike Guggino (Steep Canyon Rangers), and the Jon Stickley Trio. 21+; 7 p.m. $30 adv.; $40 dos. $100 ticket includes entry to the CANuary 1st Hangover Brunch at the Oskar Blues REEB Ranch in Hendersonville on January 1, 2015. Oskar Blues Brewery, 342 Mountain Industrial Dr., Brevard. Visit brew.oskarblues.com

Live Music at Bogarts Corgi Tales

by Phil Hawkins

Bogart’s Restaurant & Tavern 303 South Main St. Waynesville, NC

Now through January 4, 2015

(828) 452-1313 www.bogartswaynesville.com

Winter Lights

Walk through a winter wonderland and experience the Arboretum in a whole new way! A new light show enhances the natural beauty of the gardens and landscape. Live music, gifts, food and beverages. Tickets must be purchased in advance at eTix.com. No tickets will be sold at the gate. Volunteers are needed! Email volunteering@ncarboretum.org or call (828) 6652492 x 219. The North Carolina Arboretum, 100 Frederick Law Olmsted Way, 28806. More details at www.ncarboretum.org

Dragin

by Michael Cole

Arrowhead Artists and Artisan League Every Sunday, 2-4 p.m. For those interested in painting, drawing, pastels, or other media. Materials provided free of charge for the first two sessions. To continue, join the league for $25 per year. At the Arrowhead Gallery & Studios, 78 Catawba Ave., in Old Fort. Contact Helen Sullivan at helensullivan@wildblue.net for more details.

Medical Guardian

William Matthews Poetry Prize Deadline: January 15, 2015 First Place: $1,000. Second Place: $250. Third Place: publication in the Asheville Poetry Review, and a featured reading at Malaprop’s Bookstore. All submissions considered. Send three poems, any style, any theme, any length, with a $20 entry fee (payable to Asheville Poetry Review) to: William Matthews Poetry Prize, c/o Asheville Poetry Review, PO Box 7086, Asheville, NC 28802. For full details visit www.ashevillepoetryreview.com

Waynesville’s favorite steakhouse offers the best steaks in town, as well as sandwiches, fresh salads, homemade soups, and a wide variety of desserts. Live Old Time/Bluegrass music on Thursday nights at 6:30 p.m. featuring local favorites and a few travelers.

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CLASSES ~ AUDITIONS ~ ARTS & CRAFTS ~ READINGS Vol. 18, No. 4 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — December 2014 35

Find It Here

Interactive Maps are on our website! www.RapidRiverMagazine.com/maps A-1 Music Warehouse www.mymusicwarehouse.com

Joyce Schlapkohl www.joycepaints.com

Andrew Charles Gallery (828) 989-0111

Kirk’s Collectables, (770) 757-6814

Ariel Gallery, arielcraftgallery.com The Art House www.arthousegalleryandstudio.com Art on Depot, (828) 246-0218 Asheville Brewers Supply www.AshevilleBrewers.com

The Magnetic Theatre www.themagnetictheatre.org Malaprops Bookstore/Cafe www.malaprops.com Massie Furniture Company, Inc. www.massiefurniture.net Mellow Mushroom, (828) 236-9800

Asheville Gallery of Art www.ashevillegallery-of-art.com

Mountain Area Information Network main.nc.us

Asheville Symphony Orchestra www.ashevillesymphony.org

Mountain Made www.MtnMade.com

B & C Winery, (828) 550-3610

Mountain Top Appliance www.mountainviewappliance.com

BlackBird Frame & Art www.blackbirdframe.com

O’Charley’s, www.ocharleys.com

Black Box Photography www.blackboxphoto.info www.doteditions.com

Octopus Garden, www.theOG.us

Black Mountain Swannanoa Chamber of Commerce www.exploreblackmountain.com

Oil & Vinegar Asheville asheville.oilandvinegarusa.com On Demand Printing www.ondemandink.com

Blue Ribbon Frame Shop (828) 693-7967

Points of Light www.pointsoflight.net

Bogart’s Restaurant www.bogartswaynesville.com

Southern Highland Craft Guild www.craftguild.org

Brixx Pizza, www.brixxpizza.com

Starving Artist www.StarvingArtistCatalog.com

Grace C. Bomer Art www.gracecarolbomer.com

Susan Marie Designs www.susanmariedesigns.com

Cafe 64 www.cafe-64.com

Swannanoa Valley Fine Arts League Red House Gallery www.svfalarts.org

The Chocolate Fetish www.chocolatefetish.com

Ten Thousand Villages Asheville www.villagesasheville.org

Cheryl Keefer www.CherylKeefer.com Cottonmill Studios www.cottonmillstudiosnc.com Dad’s Collectibles www.dadscats.com Double Exposure Giclee www.doubleexposureart.com Frugal Framer www.frugalframer.com Gallery of the Mountains galleryofthemountains.blogspot.com Great Smokies, (828) 452-4757 The Green Room Café www.thegreenroomcafe.biz

VaVaVoom www.vavavooom.com

been trained deeply into in the “before.” We’re not in the space between before and after. We’re chasing, trying to shape “before,” trying to create a story we can live with out of the before, and shaping what the story in the “after” is going to be. And what is important, what is healing, is to just notice what is going on. Just experience this movement of mind in the stillness of awareness that is always and only present, peaceful and wise. It can also be very helpful to train ourselves to notice, to observe whether we are tense, both in body and in mind, because tension is a tip-off that we are chasing after something in the mind, some story of “before” or after” or getting from “before” to “after.” So what we have to learn is the very important skill of stopping the momentum of mind traveling in before and after, for as soon as we stop, we are in presence, and we can notice the train of thought/ emotion getting from before to after. A very helpful tactic for facilitating this stopping is through focusing awareness into our breathing and into sensory awareness of our body and environment. In a manner of speaking, stop the train, get off, and look around. This will bring us into presence where we can observe the mind-activity, the story, and the tensions that go with the story, and how they keep pulling us out of presence. We can then settle into the breathing, the senses and the here-and-now, this moment. Eventually we realize that the noticing/observing mind that can see the mind activity and is witness to the senses is also, always, this moment arising in awareness. This opens the dimension of

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intuition, the knowing of who we are beneath our mental activity and circumstances. This is the silent, peaceful, wise, insightful mind that is who we are - in awareness, no separation from the moment. “It is the original nature of the self.” In feeling the tension, the contraction of mind/body energy that goes with these mind-stories, intuition also helps us to know what is happening. Just observe, for instance, what irritability, impatience, anger feel like. You don’t have to form those words in your mind, rather just have the sense of them. Just observe, and allow a sub-verbal labeling: “Oh yes, that tension, that’s my impatience, that’s my anger.” This can be very enlightening and begin a gradual process of dissolving this reactive conditioning. The same can be true of anxiety, despondency, resentment, jealousy, insecurity, defensiveness or any of the conditioned stories from the “before” of our lives that intrude into our experience of the present moment. With this practice we can learn to trust that this observing mind is a wise, completely present capacity in each of us that only exists in the space between before and after, in this moment, now, and is the very essence of sanity. With patiently practiced present-moment awareness monitoring our being lost in “before and after” stories or in judgment, we can accomplish a transformation from within, and it is important to know that meditation and mindfulness practice is not about what could be called personal change, but rather personal transformation. Change is an attempt to target, in a judgmental way, some problem in our thinking, emotion or behavior and to control it or substitute a healthier thought, emotion or behavior. It is aimed at some “should” about being a “better person,” perhaps about being less judgmental, which has us being judgmental about being judgmental, and it is readily obvious that won’t work very well. It is like some disapproving finger shaking at us saying, “You should.” With non-judgmental noticing, “Oh, there is that trait” – rather amazingly, just the process of noticing irritability, impatience, anxiety or depression in non-judgmental awareness causes a gradual dissipation of that old un-virtuous training from within. Just notice it. That’s all. We are training the noticing mind, the observing mind with its intuitive intelligence that is always in the present moment. We are training an increased accessibility of the mind that peacefully abides and has the wisdom and compassion to know from within the better person we are, and always have been, when in the present moment in awareness. We are calling forth this better person, rather than trying to change the old person. We begin to transform, not into some judgment of what it is to be a better person by fighting with ourselves over particular behaviors, but rather by being that better person here and now, becoming more and more familiar with ourselves as that less reactive, less judgmental person, and experiencing the increased peace and well-being, the increased skillfulness of this person that has always been within us. We live less in our stories coming from before about being angry, or a victim, or whatever, projected into the after, barely even noticing the moment that is now, where our life actually happens. With less energy given to old stories of before and after, more energy and life is engaged vitally, skillfully, brilliantly in “the moment between before and after.” And this is what opens the way into “Buddha’s world,” here-and-now.

HENDERSONVILLE RD.

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artful living

Twigs and Leaves Gallery www.twigsandleaves.com

Grovewood Gallery www.grovewood.com

GET ON THE MAP, CALL

‘Between Before and After’ cont’d from pg. 33

Town Hardware & General Store www.townhardware.com TPennington Art Gallery www.tpennington.com

36 December 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 18, No. 4

Bill Walz has taught meditation and mindfulness in university and public forums, and is a privatepractice meditation teacher and guide for individuals in mindfulness, personal growth and consciousness. He holds a weekly meditation class, Mondays from 6:30-7:30 p.m. , at the Friends Meeting House, 227 Edgewood in Asheville. By donation. Information on classes, talks, personal growth and healing instruction, or phone consultations at (828) 258-3241, e-mail at healing@billwalz.com. Learn more, see past columns and schedule of coming events at www.billwalz.com

holiday gift guide

Toe River Holiday Studio Tour

A free, self-guided tour of 70 studios representing more than 100 artists in various media.

artists, photographers, sculptors, jewelers, metal workers, and more. Art lovers can create their own tours, traveling at their own pace. The TRAC Studio Guide shows the locations of the studios and galleries on the tour, along with pictures of artwork from each participant. Tour signs, posted along the roadways, aid travelers in finding their destinations.

The tour winds through scenic mountain by-ways to studios in Yancey and Mitchell Counties. On Friday, December 5 there is a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Spruce Pine TRAC Red Leaf Vases by Gallery, 269 Oak Avenue, where Bernstein Glass visitors can see a sampling of the artists’ work. IF The tour takes place Friday, December 5 YOU Studio Guides can be picked up at from noon to 4 p.m., and Saturday and SunGO the Burnsville or Spruce Pine TRAC day, December 6 & 7, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. galleries, the Yancey or Mitchell County Chambers of Commerce, and participating More than 100 artisans and galleries will studios, galleries and other local businesses in open their doors and welcome the public. It is Mitchell and Yancey counties. a rare opportunity to visit the actual workplaces. From world-famous to emerging... glass For more information contact Toe River Arts blowers, potters of every description, wood Council at (828) 682-7215 or (828) 765-0520, or visit www.toeriverarts.org turners, basket makers, printers, painters, fiber

pg. 18

‘Ariel Craft Gallery’ cont’d from pg. 11

“This is a wonderful group we have here right now,” he says. “Every piece of work (here in the store) is stunning and beautiful. And all of the artists are great people.” This December Ariel is having a storewide 20% off sale. “It’s a great opportunity to get someone you Jewelry by Geoffrey Giles love a wonderful handcrafted present and save money,” Vrooman adds. Ariel Gallery is located in the heart of downtown Asheville on Biltmore Avenue. It was founded by a collection of artists seek-

Jewelry by David Vrooman

ing a place to sell fine crafts downtown. Two of the original members still show their work at Ariel, Janet Taylor (textiles) and Jane Piser (porcelain).

Ariel Gallery

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19 Biltmore Avenue, downtown Asheville Next door to the Mast General store. Weekdays 11-5 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. 11-6 p.m.

This beautiful creation was purchased in 1995 from the artist for $2200. The value has surely increased since then.

(828) 236-2660 www.arielcraftgallery.com

Contact Rick Hills • 828-452-0228 Rickg8tor@yahoo.com

LaZoom’s Special Holiday Tour

Come celebrate the holidays on the big purple bus!

During LaZoom’s Special Holiday Tour, you’ll meet a lonesome pine tree, a traveling Gingerbread Man and possibly catch a glimpse of Santa whizzing by the bus! One of our talented tour performers will show you a hysterically, historical side of Asheville the likes of which you’ve NEVER seen. Instead of busting your gut at the holiday table this year, enjoy a side splitting good time as our guides Augusta Wind, Buster Guy, and Earlene Hooch parade you through our lovely town, Asheville!

Get Your Tickets for the Ultimate Holiday Fun!

Get your turkey stuffed, your halls decked and your bells carolled with the laughably lovable LaZoom crew! Tours depart from 90 Biltmore Ave., The French Broad Food Co-op, downtown Asheville. Holiday Tours are 90 minutes in length. Must be age 13 or older. Give the Gift of LaZoom! We have gift certificates for sale in our office and online for all your holiday gift giving needs and our tours now run all weekends year round! Wondering how to get the gang together for some warm memories and laughter this holiday? Get ‘em on the bus! Looking for an extra fun way to treat your friends or staff? La-

Zoom Holiday tours make a fun and memorable office party or holiday get together. We offer a 90 minute daytime ride or a 60 minute evening ride. Book your private tours with us early before they fill up! Call Kelly at (828) 225-6932 or email kellylazoom@gmail.com

IF YOU Visit www.lazoomtours.com and follow GO LaZoom on Facebook for updates on the

annual Toys for Tots ride on Thursday, December 11, and the 5th Annual Krektone Kristmas on the Bus on Friday, December 19.

Vol. 18, No. 4 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — December 2014 37

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HandMade in America’s Cool Craft Market HandMade in America’s biggest event of the year is back for another holiday season. The market will feature more than 40 local craft, food, and natural product makers, providing a one-stop shop for the gift giving season. The Cool Craft Market will be open Friday, December 12 from 5-8 p.m., Saturday, December 13 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, December 14 from noon to 4 p.m. IF YOU GO: HandMade in America, 125 S. Lexington Ave., Asheville. Enter on Hilliard between Church Street and Lexington Avenue. Call (828) 252-0121 or visit www.handmadeinamerica.org.

Give the gift of handmade crafts this holiday season.

By aShLey Van MaTRe

Sip and Shop from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. at Grovewood Gallery in Asheville on Friday, December 12 and save 10% on all regular priced, American made crafts and up to 40% on sale items. Warm apple Pipe Mug by cider and wine will be Andrew Massey provided. An artist demonstration with doll maker Charlie Patricolo will take place from 12 to 5 p.m. At the end of the day, she will be giving away one of her signature Santa dolls to one lucky customer. No purchase necessary to enter the Santa doll raffle. Several of Charlie’s delightful creations will be on display and available to purchase.

About Grovewood Gallery

Grovewood Gallery is a fine crafts destination that showcases traditional and contemporary crafts, all handmade by American artisans. Grovewood is located in a beautiful historic setting adjacent to The Omni Grove Park Inn in North Asheville. Also located on the Grovewood grounds are the North Carolina Homespun Museum, the Estes-Winn Antique Car Museum, Grovewood Studios, and the Grovewood Café. Free parking for gallery patrons is available on the grounds. IF YOU Sip and Shop, Friday, December 12 GO from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. at Grovewood

Gallery, 111 Grovewood Road, Asheville. For more details, please call (828) 253.7651 or visit www.grovewood.com.

38 December 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 18, No. 4

apRiL nanCe

portunity for the artist to liquidate overstocks and 2014 items, try out new techniques, and sell studio seconds. For the customer, the sale means great deals for holiday shopping and a chance to connect with the craftsperson. It also provides an exciting, festive alternative to mall and big box import Vessel by Magruder Glass shopping. Choose from a variety Marti Mocahbee of gift items including ceramics, jewelry, fiber, paper, glass and wood. Buying from artists supports the local World.” Visitors will also want to shop at Aleconomy and promotes the mission of the lanstand Craft Shop, the nation’s oldest craft Guild which is bringing together the crafts gallery, where they will find premier gifts for and craftspeople of the Southern Highlands everyone on their list, and a variety of handfor the benefit of shared resources, education, made holiday decorations from Christmas tree marketing and conservation. ornaments to wreaths and table arrangements. Nearly 70 artists will be participating over the course of the two sales, with a different IF group of artists each weekend – so plan on YOU The Guild Artists’ Holiday Sale, coming to both for best selection! For a comGO Saturday, December 6 and Saturday, plete list of exhibitors visit www.craftguild.org. December 13, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. While at the Folk Art Center, don’t miss The Folk Art Center is located at Milepost 382 the Focus Gallery show, “Beyond Textures” on the Blue Ridge Parkway in east Asheville. Call (828) 298-7928 or visit www.craftguild.org. and the Main Gallery exhibition, “It IS a Small

Ten Thousand Villages

Support fair trade this holiday season by shopping at Ten Thousand Villages.

In addition to creating opportunities for artisans around the world, Ten Thousand Villages Ten Thousand Villages is Asheville supports the a non-profit, fair trade retailer efforts of other nonof artisan-crafted home décor, profit organizations personal accessories and gift items in the area through its from across the globe. From deliCommunity Shopcately beaded jewelry from India to ping Event program. pine needle baskets from NicaraFrom December 1st gua, batiked dresses from Ghana through the 12th, a to tableware from Vietnam, find portion of your pursomething for everyone on your chase will be donated list while supporting job creation directly to the participrograms in developing countries. pating organization of As one of the world’s oldest your choice. and largest fair trade organizaFahima, an artisan working with Experience a tions, Ten Thousand Villages has RISHILPI Development Projects world of good while spent more than 60 years cultivatin Bangladesh. exploring the amazing trading relationships in which ing products handcrafted by artisans. Located artisans receive a fair price for their work and across from Pritchard Park in bustling downconsumers have access to distinctive handtown Asheville, Ten Thousand Villages is crafted items. open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through We seek to establish long-term buying reSaturday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. lationships in places where skilled artisans are under- or unemployed, and in which they lack other opportunities for income. A founding member of the World Fair Trade OrganizaTen Thousand Villages Asheville tion (WFTO), Ten Thousand Villages sees fair trade as an alternative approach to conven10 College St., Asheville, NC 28801 tional international trade. (828) 254-8374, www.villagesasheville.org

holiday gift guide

Yummy Gifts From The Chocolate Fetish

The Chocolate Fetish, Asheville’s premier chocolate shop since 1986, creates handcrafted high-quality chocolates in small batches in downtown Asheville. Visit The Cocolate Fetish® for great gift items. The items listed below are also available for shipping nationwide via their website, www. chocolatefetish.com.

Butter Crunch Gift Tote:

A customer favorite our New England Butter Crunch is our version of toffee covered in Milk or Dark Chocolate and slivered almonds. Makes a great gift! $14.95

Classic Chocolate Santa:

Chocolate Santas are a holiday tradition. Choose from a wide selection of chocolate Santas ranging from $5.95 - $45. We even have one riding a motorcycle! Pictured $12.95

Chocolate Dreidel: Ready to play or devour our chocolate Dreidels are a great way to celebrate Hand Decorated Hanukkah. Inspired Chocolate by real Dreidels, our Dreidel talented chocolatiers hand decorate each Dreidel with colored chocolates to create these fun and festive gifts. Available in milk or dark chocolate. 4" tall $16.95

Chocolate Snowman: Celebrate the season with

our festive chocolate snowmen. Each snowman is adorned with a hand decorated chocolate scarf in a variety of colors. A thin shell of white chocolate is filled with a thick shell of your choice of milk or dark chocolate. Snowmen measure 6" tall. $18.95

Holiday Classics Collection: The ultimate collection of our handmade nutty, crunchy, and chewy chocolates packaged in a small, enchanting, collectible tin. Includes Sea

WEST VILLAGE MARKET HOLIDAY BAZAAR

Signature Holiday Collection:

An abundant collection of the best of The Chocolate Fetish, elegantly presented in a collectible vintage style holiday tin with Santa on the lid. Featuring a selection of our awardwinning Truffles along with Sea Salt Caramels, Butter Crunch Gift Tote Almond Caramel Cups, Rochers, New England Butter Crunch, Peanut Butter Cups, and this year’s newest delight, Mint Meltaways! More than 40 sharable pieces. Tin measures approximately 7" x Chocolate Chocolate 10" x 3". $59.95 Santa Snowman

Saturday & Sunday, December 13 & 14 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

At this Holiday Bazaar, you’ll have the opChildren’s book portunity to buy by Jarrett Rutland. artworks, prints, and handmade crafts from local artists like sisters Josie Mosser and Corina Dross. Local children’s artist Jarrett Rutland, whose paintings are displayed Calendar created at the Hop on by Josie Mosser Haywood, will be and Corina Dross. here selling prints of his fantastical artworks. Greatful Threads will be selling their beautiful handmade clothes, and there will be local artists selling jewlery, pottery, and other crafts. Stop by and have a look and enjoy a cup of hot apple cider while you browse.

Signature Holiday Collection

Holiday Classics Collection

Salt Caramels, Rochers, Homemade Marshmallows, and ever-popular New England Butter Crunch. $24.95

The Chocolate Fetish 36 Haywood Street, downtown Asheville (828) 258-2353 www.chocolatefetish.com

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Vol. 18, No. 4 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — December 2014 39

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