OmnibusThursday, October 13, 19883
N.C. mountains offer
more than fall foliage
to westward travelers
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By LESLEY BARTLETT
Staff writer
Fall Break just didnt last long
enough, and you're already Itching
to get out of this town, away
from the pending midterm
crunch. ROADTRSP! As autumn fans
across our lovely state, thousands
will head for the mountains to
catch the colors of the changing
leaves at their peak.
if you'd like more to look for
ward to than just some trees, just
a few (well, 200) miles away in
Asheville lies a mansion worthy of
the best of aspiring royalties.
Humbly titled the Biltmore House
and Gardens, the 250-room Victo
rian castle, which Richard Morris
Hunt designed for George Vander
biit, is filled with paintings and
sculpture from around the world.
One thousand workers labored for
five years before the construction
was finally completed, and the
home was opened on Christmas
Eve, 1895.
And Christmas is one of the best
times of the year to visit the
estate Against the backdrop of
Sleaze-master Rapeman provides
By RAKDAL CULLOCK
Staff Writer -
Pull up a chair and settle back,
gentlefolks, because there is a tale
that needs telling. A tale of cour
age, a tale of hope and moreover,
a tale of sleaze. I want to show
you what happens when raw guts
meet up with raw brains, stuck to
the wall, i want to show you
humankind, slung out for your
perusal This is the story of a skinny
white boy's search for a human
drummer, and what he found on
the way. This is the story of
RAPEMAN.
Butid Rapeman
The saga starts out in the dark
ages, when men were men and
Coke machines didnt talk; a time
before anyone ever uttered the
ugly words "media event" This is
before Sigue Sigue Sputnik, before
ALF, before Circus of the Stars,
even. It is the story of a young
boy living in a time before sound
track albums were the only proof
we had that a media event actu
ally happened. We were the world
back then, and we were even the
children, but these days, it takes
a double studio gonzo album to
remind us.
But I was telling a saga, wasnt
l? A saga about a boy named Steve
AlWni. A skinny boy, and a white
one. A veritable "geek among
geeks." Yet there Is something
noble about this geek and his quest
for a human drummer. The story
(saga, I mean) starts out many
years ago, with a band called Big
hundreds of poinsettias and pine
trees, local groups perform sym
phonic and vocal music In addition,
on Friday, Saturday and Sunday
nights during the holiday season
(which lasts from Nov. 25 to Dec
31 ), the house sponsors Candlelight
Evenings - virtually the entire
estate Is illuminated by candle
light, a truly beautiful sight
Surrounding the Biltmore House
is a renowned English walled
garden, as well as a conservatory
and a greenhouse, in addition, the
estate includes acres of rolling
lawns and originally featured a
deer preserve
Built around a garden courtyard
on the former deer preserve is
Deerpark Restaurant, which serves
European and American cuisine.
Deerpark is open March through
December. But the Stable Cafe,
which features salads and deli
sandwiches, Is open year-round
from 10 am to 5-.30 pm Also, be
sure to visit the Biltmore Winery,
where you can take a self-guided
tour of the production area and
of the cellar. At the end of the
Black, whose style, largely reliant
on Roland the drum machine was
heavy enough to be considered
the apex of quality sleaze at the
time.
For those of you who da not
partake in Big Black's seven-year
hammer party, a bit of description
is in order. Combining a disrespect
for authority, a sensitive eye for
detail, a musical style that peels
paint on contact and the perfect
quantity of snot (the magic ingre
dient to ail successful social com
mentary music), Big Black brought
a different wrinkle to the Amer
ican underground music
experience.
Steve and friends did not gener
ate their own sleaze, like the
sleaze-meisters of today,- they
merely looked around them and
described the sleaze they saw.
Common everyday wretchedness.
The normal pus that oozes from
Middle America on any given
Thursday. The kinds of things
people try to hide, but you always
see on the 11 o'clock news after
the stench gets bad enough that
the neighbors notice. That was Big
Black.
And so the saga turns to Rape
man, Steve's new band, and the
new EP, Budet The record is named
after R. Budd Dwyer, Pennsylvan
ia treasurer-embezzler who made
a name for himself on national
television by making the back of
his head an option with the bus
iness end of a. 38 while the came
.. " -ST-
. 'X
if
is
Vanderbllt's Biltmore House
tour everyone is invited to join in
a wine-tasting to sample the
variety of wines available.
To get to the Biltmore House,
take exit 50B off interstate 40
west and follow the signs through
ras rolled, capturing every detail
for hungry Americans. A definite
media event
And so. like Live Aid, this event
needs a soundtrack to prove that
it actually happened. Enter Steve.
After so many years with Big Black, '
he has made showing human
frailty to other humans a sincere
art form. Our boy Budd decided
to cut out the middleman by
showing his frailties to the public
directly, but that does not daunt
young Steve.
Ail public suicide cases should
have it so good. On this record's
four tunes, Steve shows again
what made Big Black so special,
I .' I to
y- if.
S i
1 A
1 ? M
I'D
: "Just a little country house in
two stoplights. The house is open
from 9 am to 7 pm. every day
except Thanksgiving, Christmas
and New Year's Day, and tickets
are $17.50.
While in Asheviile, be sure to
soundtrack to life
mainly by doing almost exactly
the same thing.
Records that hit this hard need
a special license just to show up
on vinyl The bass is rock hard and
could easily rip a cone in your
speaker. The guitar . . . well, Steve
is the guitarist and this is his saga
You dont get your own saga
unless you can play some mean
guitar.
But anyway, the drums. Aaah,
the grail The end of the quest.
That which has eluded Steve ail
these long years. Steve looked
long and hard but he had to wait
for Scratch Acid to break up
before he could find a drummer
1
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...5.53
the mountains, right dear?"
check out the Thomas Wolfe house
as well, which is the actual board
- ing house he wrote of in took
Homeward, Angel."
There's much more to Western
North Carolina than pretty leaves.
that was manic enough to serve
the purpose Yet the funny thing
is. he sounds just like Roland,
preserving that ever-so-special Big
Black sound, is this a coincidence?
. Perhaps not Maybe I lied. Maybe
there was no quest at ail. Maybe
Steve liked the sound he got from
Roland and didnt want anything
different. Maybe I made this all up
just because I knew people like a
good epic now and again and not
because anv of it actuallv ha ri
pened that way. Maybe. I guess
well just have to wait for the
soundtrack album to find out in
the meanwhile, buy this. Budd
would have wanted it that way.
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Our chefs arc
better by degrees.
SEAFOOD RESTAURANT
The cookiris timed in seconds.
at 1-40 493-8096967-8227