I remember back a few years when I was in college. (I hate saying that, it reminds me of the older men I knew as a kid and the old stories they would tell.) I’m not sure what class it was, perhaps a sociology or philosophy course, we read excerpts from a book that had just been released. I don’t remember the author’s name either but he was someone who was fashionable at the time to call a “futurist.” Now, these were folks who made a pretty fair living writing books telling everyone else what the future would be like (mostly bad news). Today, I realize these learned scholars knew no more about it than I did at the time. But they made a few bucks and gave us something to argue over in class and out.

Barter’s new play, The Cure for Love, is a farce.  Depending on the source of the definition, the word farce means different things, but for the purpose of this review, farce means a comedy with an improbable plot, exaggerated characters, and sexual innuendo.  (Signs at the box office say it contains “risqué humor.”)

Many families are choosing to stay closer to home this vacation season. With gasoline costs rising, one-tank trips are becoming a more attractive alternative for summer travelers.
One way to enjoy the warm weather months is a bike ride along the Virginia Creeper Trail, a retired railway corridor of the Virginia-Carolina Railroad that stretches from Abingdon to the North Carolina state line near Whitetop.

There are many sites to enjoy along the Virginia Creeper Trail from Whitetop to Damascus.
Bikers can visit Green Cove Station, a restored 19th century railroad depot that currently serves as a U.S. Forest Service visitor center and trailhead for the Virginia Creeper Trail.
Creek Junction offers a good spot for fishing. Waterfalls are picturesque. 

Slumped in the waiting room chair, I dreaded the receptionist calling my name. Actually, I was hoping and praying she would not call my name, that somehow I had the wrong day or the wrong place, that the whole thing was a bad dream. I was there for a root canal. A root canal is a dental procedure used to salvage what remains of dead or dying teeth, or to extract information. Concerning discomfort, it falls somewhere between a beheading and having a hot needle poked in your eye.

When the minister arrived at the nursing home, he found his parishioner sitting alone in her room. “I am worried sick,” the 95-year-old woman explained. Trying to pinpoint the source of her anxiety, her minister began to question the woman.

“He’s got the whole world in his hands…” Laurie London first recorded this popular spiritual in 1958; it eventually went all the way to # 1. Simple lyrics coupled with a melodious tune have sustained the music’s popularity through the years. Most of us find it comforting to think that the world and our very lives do not simply spin unfettered in space, but rest firmly in the grasp of the almighty. However, I wonder what the song sounds like in Cantonese. I wonder if they have ever sung it in China. If so, do they still?

There is a new church in Wales. Founded by two cousins, Barney and Michael Jones, it is the Church of Jediism. 

Parrotheads will recognize Peter Mayer’s name from his nearly 20 years with Jimmy Buffett on lead guitar. Others may know he has stepped out to form his own band, The Peter Mayer Group. Both audiences and anyone who appreciates virtuoso musicianship will want to know Mayer will be in Marion tomorrow, performing at The Lincoln Theater on Sunday, May 18, at 3 p.m.

We live in paradise. I noticed it on May Day, songbirds and creekbirds flitting through my little woods, butterflies floating over the flowers, fat bumblebees bumping clumsily into each other through the blooming bushes.