A Blog in Asheville, North Carolina has gained attention from the British News site The Guardian. The site might also be a newspaper over there, I’m not sure as I don’t live in England. The Guardian Story questions the reviewer from the Asheville Performing Arts Review, for anonymously criticizing the UNCA-Diana Wortham Theater colaboration “The Tempest Project”. Perhaps the review was a bit harsh; though I haven’t actually seen the play so it could be right on the money. That said it was no worse than most negative movie reviews and why theater thinks they are above legitimate criticism I will never know. I believe the aspect of complete freedom of speech frightens many older institutions. I’m sure at one point critics of theater were jovial old men that wrote for a daily, drank brandy, and looked forward to to donning their smoking jacket, have fido fetch their slippers and settle in by the fire with the longwinded stultifying prose of Melville before retiring to their chambers– alas this is no more. And yet even now there are only 250 members of the American Theater Critics Association. So why does the theater expect courtesies that apply to no other institutions. Not one person has rebuked slate.com for their review of this week’s theatrical release of “Speed Racer”.

“Shapes hurtle toward you, then recede abruptly, each bearing some fragment of narrative information that has now passed you by forever. Nausea and anxiety begin to wash over you in overlapping waves.” [Read Review]

Ok, that review was not anonymous but the reviewer in Asheville is an actor, he can’t afford to anger the establishment but that doesn’t mean his opinion should not be heard. And as an actor his opinion should count for something. Here is a sample of the transatlantic controversy.

It is possible for a brilliant and insightful director to face off against a great play and a great playwright, and, by opposing, find fresh nuance and unsuspected relevance in old and familiar words. This is not what happens in Theater UNCA’s The Tempest Project. Directors Laura Facciponti and Pamella O’Connor have, instead, devised a sort of bizarro-Tempest which, aside from being bad on its own account, violates the play at just about every point, apparently wilfully, blithe in its disregard for scholarship, reading skills, and even correct pronunciation. It was as if these two women had looked the Bard in the eye, without knowing precisely who he was, and snarled “I’ll show you how it really should be done.” [Continue Reading]

There is a reason our elections are by secret ballet, and reasons why some blogs are too. Do you think that the employees of those blogs about Wal-Mart are really going to be honest if they know the execs can read their posts? They would be out of a job. Same with this anonymous actor. To see The Guardian’s story visit their website.

A new research corporation has opened an Asheville North Carolina office, hoping to bring contracts to the city and work in connection with the NCDC. The new firm could be worth millions of dollars to the city economy.

The firm is called the Scientific Research Corporation. They give information and communications to the Federal Government as well as to private companies.

The company held a press conference at the North Carolina Arboretum announcing their decision.

Tremendous winds blew through Asheville, North Carolina- leaving at least 21,000 people with out power Monday after a large low pressure system came through the state. The National Weather service reported many trees down, especially in the more mountainous areas.

Winds reached speeds of 60 mph and a roof was lifted from a house near Lake Lure, North Carolina. Power was also out in Black Mountain as well. Several tornadoes touched down across the state and hail battered many regions. Mobile homes in Maysville were ripped apart by tornadoes and many areas had hail the size of softballs.

Data From The North Carolina Board of Elections
More information can be found on their website

The Thomas Wolfe Memorial is a must see when you visit Asheville. It is a North Carolina Landmark. His childhood home is now a much visited Literary Landmark. He wrote about it in his novel “Look Homeward Angel” one of the great works of American Writers, and influenced Jack Kerouac to write his own auto-biographical novel “The Town and the City“.

The house itself is a large Victorian Style former boarding house that was built by Erwin Sluder in 1883. Additions more than doubled the size of the house by the 1890’s. In his famous novel Wolfe states that they moved there in 1906. Wolfe’s mother put in plumbing, electricity and added additional rooms.since its 1929 publication, keeping interest in Wolfe alive and attracting visitors to the setting for this great novel. When Wolfe died he was laid to rest in Asheville’s own Riverside Cemetery next to the author O. Henry.

A visit to this North Carolina historical treasure is highly recommended on any visit to Asheville. Tickets are 1 dollar for adults and 50 cents for students. The memorial is open from 9-to-5 on Tuesday through Saturday and from 1-to-5 on Sundays, the house is closed on Mondays.

Directions: - Map
From I-26, I-40 and US 19-23 (I-26) take I-240 loop to downtown Asheville. Take the Merrimon Ave. exit and follow signs to the Thomas Wolfe Memorial. The House is at 52 N. Market St.

The section of North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Parkway close to Craggy Gardens will be closed because of a wall collapse, it will not open until after the summer tourist season. This means that you must drive to a Parkway access point north of the collapse if you wish to reach Mount Mitchell from Asheville. No hikers or mountain bikers will be granted access either.

Motorists will be able to reach the Picnic area of Craggy Gardens on May the ninth and some the Parkway’s hiking trails near that point will also be opened.

The Gardens are a popular stop off point for drivers and popular among Asheville natives as well. Most people visit the gardens in June because of it’s beautiful blooming flowers.

Our Polls closed promptly at 7pm and every news organization soon projected Barack Obama the winner of the North Carolina Primary. What they didn’t know was the margin as some said Hillary had been polling better in the state. Obama won by 14 percent of the total vote. It wasn’t the comeback Hillary Clinton so badly needed.

So bad in fact most television cable pundits are now saying it is impossible for her to come back and somehow gain the Democratic Nomination. The only way the former first lady could be the nominee would be to some how broker a  deal that would sway the super-delegates to ignore the voters and hand her the nomination despite losing in number of delegates, popular vote and states.

With the showing in North Carolina and the media now against her there is now very little chance of her being on the ballot in November, except run as an independent.

Bill Clinton visited two churches near Asheville, North Carolina begging churchgoers to pray for Former First Lady Hillary Clinton. The Ex-President claimed he didn’t want people to vote for her but just to vote and pray for her. It sort of makes you wonder what kind of distress Hillary was in other than needing votes in Indiana and North Carolina, both of which hold their primaries tomorrow.