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Inside the Method of Acting With Ashley Jones

Though she currently lives in Italy, performing with an acting troupe for young audiences, Ashley Jones’ roots are in Danville, Virginia. She lived there her whole life and earned her Bachelors in Theatre at Averett University, but all that changed in 2018 when Jones decided to take the plunge and pursue acting professionally. Since then,... Read More

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February 13, 2024

The Stink Bug Having Crawled, Crawls On

While walking down one hallway of Danville’s First Presbyterian Church on a Sunday a while back, I saw something small and shadowy which stood out against the wall’s white paint. I dared not touch it, squash it, or even try to find some container in which to safely transport it back outside (as I am... Read More

Essays

February 9, 2024

Movies You Missed From 20 Years Ago: The Dreamers

The Dreamers (7/10 Rating) Released February 20, 2003 For rent/purchase on all major platforms. Genre: Drama, History, Sport NC-17: Explicit sexual content 1h 55m If you jumped right into this review and did not read the MPAA rating, I am going to start by stating that this movie is rated NC-17 and earns it... Read More

Movies You Missed

February 7, 2024

Inside the Method of Acting with Samantha Overton

At the spry age of 15, Samantha Overton knew she wanted to pursue performing while playing Mother Abbess in a production of The Sound of Music. Though she had been acting since the age of 8, it was not until this performance that her passion for the theatre was ignited. Overton was born and... Read More

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January 18, 2024

Movies You Missed From 20 Years Ago: The Butterfly Effect

The Butterfly Effect (7/10 Rating) Released January 23, 2004 For rent/purchase on all major platforms. Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller R: Violence, Sexual Content, Language, and Brief Drug Use 1h 53m The Butterfly Effect blew my mind when I saw it twenty years ago. It was a wild ride and an interesting take on time travel... Read More

Movies You Missed

January 16, 2024

Inside the Method of Acting with Ashlyn Rising

Ashlyn Rising is a ninth-grade student at Westover Christian Academy. Her favorite subjects include English, history, and most importantly, drama. Rising has been acting for over five years now. She got her start in the fourth grade, creating skits to perform for her teachers. Rising shared that she “loved the feeling of an entertained audience,... Read More

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January 11, 2024

It’s OK to Play in Your Good Clothes

The other day, on my way to my car, in Danville’s Westover Drive Food Lion parking lot, I saw something which “jumped out at me” (not literally, though). It began with something we all do (or should do) with our grocery carts when we’re through with them, but morphed into a sort of game. A... Read More

Essays

December 20, 2023

What Do Writers Write About in December?

Below is a series of questions I’ve altered to be answered for this holiday season: When did you begin thinking about what you’d write for the holiday season? Actually, I never stop thinking about writing for the holidays. It’s that special time when both gift-giving and gift-receiving take place. Stories that generate warm feelings about... Read More

Writers' Page

December 14, 2023

Movies You Missed from 20 Years Ago: Big Fish

Big Fish (8/10 Rating) Released December 25, 2003 (Limited) For rent/purchase on all major platforms. Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Romance PG-13: A Fight Scene, Images of Nudity, and a Suggestive Reference 2h 5m When I think of Tim Burton films, I tend to forget how good his films can be. Then I recall Edward... Read More

Movies You Missed

December 12, 2023

Thoughts on a Good, Rural Man

We recently lost a truly good “rural man,” whose country upbringing centered him in the tradition of hard work, particularly in working with wood. His name: Joe Hammack. He and his family were “one of a kind,” harkening back to simpler, “frill-less” times, and denoted by dedication to the basics of hard work and the... Read More

Essays